Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday pitched for increasing testing facilities in the state for COVID-19, saying 30,000 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) tests should be done everyday. He also directed officials to make people aware of the need to avoid unnecessary movement in view of COVID-19 cases, and suggested that the Health department increase fines on those not wearing masks.
Addressing an unlock review meeting with senior officials and ministers, he said besides rapid antigen tests, 30,000 RTPCR tests should be done everyday, an official release here said.
RT-PCR test is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA that detects the virus while the antibody tests, which use blood, detect the body's response to the virus.
The chief minister expressed satisfaction over establishment of over 33,000 COVID help desks.
Uttar Pradesh recorded its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 1,332 new infections pushing the state's tally to 29,968 on Tuesday, officials said.
So far, 827 fatalities have been reported in the state, with 18 deaths in the last 24 hours, Principal Secretary for Health Amit Mohan Prasad said.
The total number of active cases stand at 9,514, he said.
Prasad said as many as 1,332 fresh cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours.