Published on March 22, 2020
AHMEDABAD: A 69-year-old man from Surat on Sunday became the first victim to the coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) in Gujarat. State health minister Nitin Patel mentioned that with five new confirmed cases on Sunday, the total tally has now reached 18.
The state health and family welfare department also mentioned that a 65-year-old woman from Vadodara, who had got admitted with symptoms associated with Covid-19, died at the hospital. However, her report is still pending.
“We have received five new positive cases on Sunday. With this count, now we have seven positive cases in Ahmedabad, three each in Surat, Vadodara, Gandhinagar and one each in Rajkot and Kutch. A total of 273 samples were sent to the laboratories out of which 253 have turned out to be negative whereas others are awaited,” said Patel.
The deputy chief minister, who is also health minister of the state, told media that there are 650 persons under home quarantine in Ahmedabad, 590 in Surat and 223 in Gandhinagar. In addition, 381 persons in Ahmedabad and two in Gandhinagar are quarantines run by the state government.
“We time and again request those who have returned from abroad to exercise extreme caution and understand gravity of the condition – since the start of outbreak, 6,092 persons have returned to the state through flights and have given undertaking that they would take all caution,” said Patel. “Unfortunately, 93 persons breached the guidelines and steps have been taken against them. We want to warn those who breach the rules that they would be put under government-run quarantine facilities and there would also be criminal charges against them.”
Patel also said that after a lot of discussion, it’s been decided to make the names of the Covid-19 positive cases public. “The step is to ensure that all those who had come in contact with these persons knowingly or unknowingly can know about it and they can come forward for test,” he said.
Earlier Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani congratulated people of Gujarat for stringently following the “Janta Curfew” proposed by PM Narendra Modi to break the infection chain of Covid-19 and advised to continue the spirit for next few days.
After announcement of partial lockdown of four major cities – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot – from where the cases have been reported, Gandhinagar city area also joined the list. According to the government notification, except essential services, shops and commercial establishments would remain closed as a measure to prevent crowding.
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