Uttarakhand: Only 9,000 Covid tests on election day

DEHRADUN

: Uttarakhand assembly election on Monday largely impacted

Covid

testing in the state. Only 9,411 tests were conducted in the state on Monday and 13,054 on Sunday.


The figures have reduced from the earlier over 19,000 mark. Election is the main reason for the decline, sources said.

Meanwhile, experts believe that the fewer testing should not become a trend as that will adversely affect the state's health situation. “Several health officials may have been employed on poll duty. That explains it all. But, this shouldn’t be a regular thing. We can consider it as a one-off incident," said

Anoop Nautiyal

, founder,

SDC foundation

.

As many as 161 positive Covid cases were reported from the state today, including two deaths, both in Dehradun. Meanwhile, the total number of samples sent for Covid testing on Monday is 9,411.

Notably, as per the state health bulletin, the total cumulative Covid positive cases detected since January 1 is 88,681 and the total number of Covid patients treated since then includes 79,386 (89.52%). Also, the total number of patients migrated out of the state since January 1 is 3,087. Significantly, the number of deaths since the beginning of the year is 235.

The number of beneficiaries vaccinated on Monday includes 1,136, according to the health bulletin.