With support of its people, UP overcame COVID-19 apprehensions: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while interacting with representatives of NGOs belonging to Varanasi on Thursday said that a state like Uttar Pradesh overcame the apprehensions of the worst-case scenario of COVID-19 because of public support.

"100 years ago, a similar pandemic happened, it is said that back then the population was not this big in India. Even then, at that time, India was one of the countries which had the most deaths. That is why the whole world was concerned for India this time," the Prime Minister said, at the interaction held through video conferencing.

"So this time around, when the pandemic hit India, everyone was concerned and now India has a huge population. Experts were raising questions on India, saying this time also the situation will get worse but what happened? Uttar Pradesh, a state with population 23-24 crores, with support of its people overcame all these apprehensions," he added.

Further hailing Uttar Pradesh's efforts in containing the spread of COVID-19, the Prime Minister compared the state to Brazil and said, "A huge country like Brazil, with a similar population to Uttar Pradesh, has suffered around 65,000 deaths due to COVID-19. While in Uttar Pradesh, around 800 people have lost their lives, it means many lives have been saved in the state."

"Uttar Pradesh has not only controlled the rate of transmission but those who were infected by COVID-19 are also recovering quickly and the reason behind this success is the awareness displayed by great people like you. It is because of the values that you were able to give the strength to every person in society to fight against coronavirus," the Prime Minister added.

As per the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, Uttar Pradesh has 31,156 COVID-19 cases of which, 9,980 patients are active cases while 20, 331 patients have been cured or discharged. There have been 845 deaths due to COVID-19 in the state. 

-ANI

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