Gujarat report 55 new COVID-19 positive cases
Gujarat reported 55 new coronavirus positive cases along with one death on Thursday taking the total cases in the state to 241 and the death toll to 17.
The 55 new cases were detected as surveillance was intensified in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhavnagar, Vadodara and Rajkot. Out of these 55, as many as 50 were in state's financial capital, Ahmedabad.
‘Gujarat government has started taking samples in hotspot areas after the Nizamuddin Markaz incident. Identifying contagious persons could curb further spread of the coronavirus.’
Health authorities said that the numbers are expected to increase in the coming days, as surveillance and corona tests in hotspots in the five major cities have been intensified.
"Most cases reported in Ahmedabad are from samples collected from Danilimda, Astodia, Ghodasar - all hotspots marked by the health authorities," said Jayanti Ravi, Health and Family Welfare Department Principal Secretary.
Other new cases included a male (68) from Rander and a female (42) from Adajan Patia in Surat, and one each in Anand, Dahod and Chhota Udepur.
"A majority of these cases, especially in Ahmedabad, can be traced to Nizamuddin Markaz incident. But that is for the police to find out," added Ravi.
There was one more death in Ahmedabad -- a male (48) admitted in SVP Hospital who was a patient of hypertension. One male (27) from Ahmedabad rural was discharged from the Civil Hospital on Thursday.
"In the coming days, the numbers are bound to increase. The situation is under control. This is because we have started taking more samples in the hotspots areas after the Nizamuddin Markaz incident. We want to identify each and every person who is contagious to curb further spread of the virus," added Ravi.
Thursday's 55 new cases take the total in Gujarat to 241, with Ahmedabad on top with 133 cases, followed by Surat 25, Bhavnagar and Vadodara 18 each, Gandhinagar 13, Rajkot 11, Patan 5, Porbandar 3, and Mehsana, Gir-Somnath, Chhota Udepur and Anand with 2 each, and Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod 1 each.
Out of the total 241 cases, 33 have international travel history, 32 interstate travel, while 176 were locally infected.
Out of the total 17 deaths, 11 death were due to local infection. Till now, 26 patients have been discharged.
"Out of the total 155 active cases, the condition of 153 is stable and two is critical who are on ventilator.
"In the last 24 hours, we have taken 1,788 samples, of which 62 tested positive, 1,624 negative and 102 pending.
"The total number of quarantined persons in the state is 12,352, including 11,015 who are home-quarantined, 1,170 in government facilities and 167 in private facilities," added Ravi.
Source: IANS