Yogi orders for genome sequencing of Covid-19

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / June 1, 2021

Amid a waning second wave of Covid-19 but an early warning of possible third wave in the coming months, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to engage Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) for advanced genome sequencing research on coronavirus.

The proposed study by Lucknow-based CDRI, a premier research organisation under the Council of Scientific and Industrial research (CSIR), is aimed at unravelling the newer strains and mutations of Covid-19 and helping in making strategies to counter its impact.

Yogi said a detailed study on the Covid was imperative even as other organisations were also conducting research at different levels.

The UP government has adopted an aggressive ‘test, trace and treat’ strategy to control the spread of the pandemic, which has borne fruits for UP, which was once among the top two worst affected states apart from Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the 61 of 75 districts, wherein the number of active coronavirus cases are less than 600, today witnessed relaxation in Corona Curfew during the day time between 7 am and 7 pm outside the containment zones.

However, the weekend curfew on Saturday and Sunday, apart from the night curfew would remain in place across UP. Besides, the shopping malls, cinema halls, gyms, clubs, educational institutions etc would remain closed as well.

The 14 districts wherein the number of active cases is above 600 would continue to observe full Corona Curfew. These include Lucknow, Meerut, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Jhansi etc.