After the Covid-19 crisis, how has Uttar Pradesh’s health strategy changed?

Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has had over 17 lakh Covid-19 cases so far and the disease has killed 1.34% or, 22,891 people, since the start of the pandemic – a slightly higher rate than India’s 1.3%. At the peak of the second wave, the state reported more than 300 deaths a day. Ground reporting also showed that cases and deaths had been underreported in the state and the mismanagement of the pandemic during its panchayat elections endangered the lives of teachers on election duty.

As the wave began abating across most states, Uttar Pradesh too started reporting fewer cases – on September 28, the state had only 14 new and 177 active cases of Covid-19. However, this monsoon, the state has also been reporting dengue, leptospirosis and scrub typhus.

What lessons did the state draw from its Covid-19 crisis on how to deal with disease outbreaks? In this interview, Jai Pratap Singh, the minister for Medical and Health, Family Welfare, Maternal and Child Welfare in the Uttar Pradesh government, offers some insights.

Excerpts from the interview:

At the peak of the second wave, Uttar Pradesh was reporting almost 350 deaths a day. What are the lessons that the state has drawn from…

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