Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state at a high-level meeting with officials, and said that the situation in the state is normal amid the rising cases in various countries.?

He also directed the officials to closely monitor the "changing trends" of coronavirus and to conduct genome sequencing of the new cases. Adityanath reviewed the situation in the state during the meeting with Team-9, a team of senior officials and ministers constituted for Covid management, and gave necessary guidelines, according to an official statement.

The chief minister said that the situation in UP is normal amid the rising number of Covid cases in various countries, the statement said.?More than 9.06 lakh tests were done in the month of December, of which 103 cases were found to be positive. The positivity rate of the state was recorded at 0.01 per cent during this period.?

Presently, there are a total of 49 active cases in the state. Over 42,000 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, the statement said.?"The changing trends of the virus should be closely monitored. Whatever shortcomings have been found in the recent mock drills, they should be rectified immediately," the CM said.?

Uttar Pradesh is leading in terms of Covid vaccination, Adityanath said, and added that currently, more than 11 lakh doses are available in the state.?He directed that continuous contact should be maintained with the Centre for adequate availability of the vaccines as per the demand. ?

When Covid was at its peak, the government had set up ICUs in every district, and they should be kept functional, the CM said.?There should be availability of anaesthetist and other specialist doctors and technicians in every ICU and three technicians should be deployed at the oxygen plants, Adityanath added.

People should be made aware to take precaution dose and the campaign should be expedited, he said.?The chief minister also said that in the last two-and-a-half years of the Covid period, a large number of personnel were temporarily deployed to maintain the health services smoothly.?

The service period of these personnel should be counted in future appointments, and preference should be given to such people, he said, and added that clear rules should be prepared in this regard. Emphasising on the need to remain alert, Adityanath said that it is possible that there may be an increase in new cases in the next few days.?

"Therefore, we have to be alert. This is not the time to panic, but to remain alert and be careful. Covid protocol has to be followed. Make people aware to wear face masks in public places. Activate the public address system," he said.