Published on April 12, 2020
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat recorded two deaths and four new positive cases since 8pm on Tuesday, said state health and family welfare department officials.
With the new cases, the death toll due to Covid-19 in Gujarat is 16 whereas total positive cases are now at 179. All fresh cases are of local transmission, said officials.
Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health & family welfare), mentioned on Wednesday morning that a 65-year-old man from Surat died at New Civil Hospital, Surat whereas a 14-month-old child breathed his last at GG Hospital, Jamnagar, on Tuesday night.
“The man from Surat had a history of hypertension. The child at Jamnagar was critical and was on ventilator. The doctors tried their best but could not save the child,” she said.
Ravi said that out of 179 positive cases, 16 of the patients have succumbed to the viral infection, 25 have been discharged and 136 are stable. Two of the patients are on a ventilator in Gujarat.
Out of four new cases, two are from Bhavnagar and one each from Surat and Vadodara. All the cases are of local transmission. Three of the patients are men whereas a 70-year-old patient from Surat is a woman.
As on Wednesday morning, Gujarat laboratories have conducted 3972 tests out of which 179 are positive and 3,562 are negative. Result for 231 is pending. “The state has ramped up testing for the past couple of days – in past 24 hours, the state conducted 932 tests out of which 14 turned out to be positive,” said Ravi.
With the new cases, Ahmedabad district now has 83 cases, Surat 23, Bhavnagar 16, Vadodara and Gandhinagar 13 each, Rajkot 11, Patan 5, Porbandar 3, Kutch, Mehsana and Gir Somnath 2 each, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Jamnagar, Morbi, Anand and Sabarkantha one each.
Likewise, Ahmedabad has recorded five deaths so far, followed by Surat (4), Vadodara and Bhavnagar (2 each) and Panchmahal, Patan and Jamnagar (1 each).
“Focus is on the clustered areas which are identified as hotspots in Gujarat where a door-to-door survey is initiated. It’s often seen that the patients come late in medical setting and delay in diagnosis increases the chances of mortality,” said Ravi. “We have roped in private doctors to report any cases with symptoms of Covid-19 through an app. Citizens can also report symptoms through helplines”.
Health department officials said that they have also concentrated efforts in the districts where no positive cases are reported so far. All movements have been restricted and along with police authorities, officials are asked to report any person with travel history who might have come to the town or village in the past fortnight.
In a drastic measure, the walled city of Ahmedabad, which also serves as the traditional epicentre of business, was completely isolated by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Tuesday night. All the movements were restricted and any person who must pass would be checked with temperature guns by the health department officials. The decision was taken after a sudden spike in cases reported from specific pockets in past four days, said AMC officials.
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