Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday claimed that his government was able to blunt the second wave of Covid-19, declaring that the state is already in the Covid safe zone.

During his visit to Deoria as part of his statewide tour of Covid-hit districts, Adityanath said that UP being the most populous state, the challenges were manifold, but with teamwork and effective implementation of the “trace, test and treat mantra spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, the government was able to yield “comprehensive and positive results in a short span of time”.

“Contrary to some misplaced apprehensions about the escalated infection rate during the second wave of Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh raised by certain experts, the state has already moved into a safe zone… In the second wave, it was being said that daily up to one lakh infection cases will be recorded in the month of May in Uttar Pradesh, and by May 15, the total active cases will reach up to 30 lakh. However, at its peak on April 30, the total active cases were 3.10 lakh, which has come to around 62,000 today,” Adityanath said after holding a review meeting with district officials.

The state reported 3,371 new Covid-19 cases and 196 deaths on Wednesday, taking the overall fatalities in the state to 19,712.

The chief minister also said that his government’s decision to not impose a strict lockdown in the state helped save the livelihood of people.

“Instead of a strict lockdown, we adopted a partial corona curfew to protect the life and livelihood. Due to this, there was no problem in the agriculture sector, fruit and vegetable mandis, and all other essential services,” he added.

The chief minister said that more than 300 oxygen plants are being set up in the state with four oxygen plants have been planned for Deoria.