UP to scale up RT-PCR tests as new Covid cases threaten to overwhelm state

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has called for scaling up the proportion of RT-PCR tests being conducted in the state, heeding the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the country’s most populous state.

The CM has directed that the state increase the number of RT-PCR tests to 150,000, UP’s additional chief secretary of information, Navneet Sehgal, said on Monday.

RT-PCR is considered the most efficient technique out of the basket of testing processes available for Covid-19.


Between Sunday and Monday evening, just over 89,000 out of the nearly 193,000 tests conducted by the state were RT-PCR tests. Out of the total, 13,685 were confirmed positive, a positivity rate of 7% (10% and less is the benchmark), while 72 deaths were reported.

To facilitate more RT-PCR tests, the state is adding machines to existing labs as well as increasing the manpower, said Sehgal. The CM had said on Sunday that cooperation of private labs should also be sought in expanding the capacity of RT-PCR testing in the state.

The CM also called for converting three more hospitals in state capital Lucknow – which has become the epicentre of the pandemic in the state – to dedicated Covid-19 hospitals. This will add 2,000 beds equipped with high flow nasal cannula (used for improving oxygenation) and ventilators. Medical infrastructure in Lucknow has come under high pressure, with nearly 30% of all daily cases in the state being reported from the district.