With 4 new cases, UP tally reaches 33

Lucknow, March 24 (IANS) Four new coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh taking the tally to 33 in the state.

One patient each was reported till Monday night from Pilibhit, Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Jaunpur.

According to official sources, 49 suspected cases have been quarantined by health teams across the state while 11 of the 33 patients have recovered completely.

State surveillance officer Vikasandu Agarwal said that all the patients who have tested positive have a history of travelling abroad.

"While the patient from Ghaziabad is a private doctor who returned from France, the woman in Pilibhit had returned from Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Both the patients have been quarantined in hospital," he said.

Health officials in Pilibhit said that the woman was a part of a 37-member group that had gone for Umrah.

"The patient returned from Umrah on March 20. She was screened and put in isolation as a suspected case while her sample was sent to KGMU Lucknow. The woman has tested positive," said Chief Medical 0fficer of Pilibhit O.P. Singh.

"The health teams have also tracked and traced down 36 other members of the group and all of them have been put into isolation," Singh added.

The patients from Kanpur and Jaunpur also have travel history and have been quarantined in the hospital.

Chief Medical Officer Kanpur Ashok Shukla said that the patient in Kanpur had returned from the US.

Health officials in Jaunpur also informed that the positive case in their city had returned from Saudi Arabia.

State health department added more labs to conduct preliminary Covid-19 tests. This included labs at SGPGI Lucknow, Medical College in Meerut and Command Hospital, Lucknow. Covid-19 confirmatory tests will also be conducted at AMU in Aligarh and BHU in Varanasi.