Uttar Pradesh / Gorakhpur has become free of COVID-19: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday announced that Gorakhpur in eastern part of the state now has zero coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. He also congratulated the healthcare officials and people of Gorakhpur for the feat.

"In Gorakhpur, the holy land of Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath ji, the number of corona infected has become zero today. This achievement is due to the active participation of the district administration, the tireless work of the committed health workers and disciplined cooperation from honourable and dedicated public representatives and the people of Gorakhpur," Adityanath said on Koo, an Indian microblogging and social networking service.

Adityanath is the mahant or head priest of the Gorakhnath Math. He represented Gorakhpur in Parliament for 19 years for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but vacated the seat after taking over as Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 2017.

Adityanath was born Ajay Mohan Bisht in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal, but later changed his name after indoctrination into the Nath sect.

The number of Covid-19 cases has been steadily falling in Uttar Pradesh and the state government last month lifted the night curfew, in place from 11pm to 6am.

The number of active cases in Uttar Pradesh have stayed below 100 since October. On Saturday, the active cases went down by four and stands at 91. The state recorded just five new Covid-19 cases and one related fatality in the last 24 hours, according to Union health ministry.

Meanwhile, India recorded 10,929 fresh coronavirus cases that took its infection tally to 3,43,44,683, while 392 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 4,60,265, according to health ministry.

The number of active cases came down to 1,46,950 from 1,48,922 on Friday, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The daily rise in Covid-19 cases has been below 20,000 for 29 straight days. Less than 50,000 daily cases have been reported for 132 consecutive days now.