NEW DELHI: UP government has started the first trial of random testing for Coronavirus of essential deliverymen and vendors including milkmen and vegetable sellers, making it the first state to expand the scale of Covid-19 containment.The government on Saturday collected 65 samples of deliverymen in Hapur district.This included 13 milkmen, 23 vegetable vendors, seven cooking gas vendor and six fruit sellers.“This is the first day and we have started the testing for delivery boys in and around red zone. We may later on expand it to other areas of district,” Aditi Singh, DM, Hapur, told TOI.A top official at the chief minister’s office said district administrations can take calls for such assessments. “Those providing delivery of essential services are at risk, testing them is also providing them protection,” he said.The move has come two days after a two-member committee led King George Medical University Dr Surya Kant , hed of respiratory medicine department and Dr Vivek Kumar, head, medicine department, submitted a report seeking test of street vendors.“Only those vendors should be allowed in open who would test negative and vendors can carry a corona negative card with them,” the report had suggested.The testing will be done in other similar districts after a a milkman had tested positive in Agra five days ago.Kamal, a vegetable vendor from Hapur’s Rajiv VIhar, who submitted throat and nasal swab samples, said that though he did not have any symptoms but he would cooperate with district administration to ensure their businesses are not impacted.“I earn just about 9,000. Tomororw if one of us is tested positive, we will all lose business. Its a good move to ensure only COVID-free people can roam around and supply vegetables. Just like me, there are milkmen, gas cylinder delivery boys. Our badge on Corona negative will iinspire lot of confidence among people,” he told TOI.Hapur houses one of the biggest fruit and vegetable mandi in the country.UP government official told TOI 17 bio safety level-2 labs are functioning in the state where 41,443 COVID-19 samples have been tested since the start of the process. The most have come to Lucknow’s KGMU(12,178), followed by LLRMC in Meerut (5375) and SGPGI in Lucknow (4076) and BHU Varanasi (4687).