NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 7
A 14-month-old baby boy who had tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district on April 5 died of multiple organ failure on Tuesday, said, officials.
The toddler, son of a migrant labourer-couple with no recent travel history, died in the evening at a government hospital in Jamnagar, said an official release. He was in a critical condition since he was admitted to the hospital.
કોવિડ-૧૯ કોરોનાની મહામારી દરમિયાન લોકડાઉનમાં કોઇ નિરાધાર શ્રમજીવીઓ ભૂખ્યાં ન રહે એવા માનવીય અભિગમથી સમાજના ગરીબ વર્ગ પ્રત્યે સંવેદના દાખવી મદદનો હાથ લંબાવવાના તમામ પ્રયત્નો સરકાર, વહીવટીતંત્ર તથા સમજસેવી સંસ્થાઓ-સેવાભાવી લોકો કરી રહ્યા છે, ત્યારે શ્રમિકોને જીવનજરૂરી ચીજવસ્તુઓ… pic.twitter.com/m6ZfJ22waQ
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) April 7, 2020
The boy, who tested positive for coronavirus two days ago, was as on ventilator support and eventually died of multiple organ failure, said the release.
He becomes the youngest patient to succumb to COVID- 19 in Gujarat, where the death toll has now gone up to 16.
The baby was the first and the only case of coronavirus infection so far in all of Jamnagar district and the youngest to be diagnosed with the disease in Gujarat. Since he tested positive, authorities had been tracing the source of his infection. His parents are from Uttar Pradesh and work as casual labourers in factories in the port city.
The parents are not showing symptoms and have been kept under quarantine, officials said.
The locality in Dared village near the city, in which the couple lives, has been put under complete lockdown to check the spread of the virus, they said.
Gujarat has so far recorded 175 coronavirus positive cases and 16 fatalities, including 4 on Tuesday.
“We are being ruthless now to ensure that the lockdown restrictions are followed. This is in the interest of our citizens,” said Jayanti Ravi, Principal Secretary – Health.
A day before, the State government had declared 15 localities in four cities of Ahmedabad (8), Surat (3), Bhavnagar (2) and Vadodara (2) as hotspots and sealed the areas.
“We have begun extensive testing of all the suspected cases in these hotspot areas. A strict action plan is being implemented,” Ravi said.
With seven days left for the completion of 21-day lockdown, DGP Shivanand Jha has said the restrictive measures will be implemented more strictly across the State, especially in the affected areas.
“Apart from the police force, we are also deploying State Reserve Police Force and trained NCC and NSS cadets to ensure effective implementation of lockdown restrictions,” he said.
Jha confirmed that so far 127 people who had attended Nizamuddin Markaz were identified. They belonged to the districts of Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Mehsana, Junagadh, Botad, Surat, Chhota Udepur and Navsari.
AMC declares old city as buffer zone
With COVID-19 cases increasing at an alarming pace, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Tuesday kicked off an “aggressive testing and surveillance” exercise to check clusters where maximum cases are being detected, a move that is said to have been “inspired” from South Korea’s model of tackling the virus.
Walled City of #Ahmedabad is declared as a buffer zone for #CoronaVirus containment
ALL persons entering or exiting it will face restrictions & screening using infrared thermometers
This is a Herculean task for @AmdavadAMC
Pl extend cooperation. Avoid visiting walled city🙏🙏
— Vijay Nehra (@vnehra) April 7, 2020
Officials said that the model is primarily based on “aggressive” testing and for that purpose Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Tuesday officially rolled out seven “coronavirus mobile testing vans” for seven zones. Each van has two separate teams for carrying out “surveillance” and “sample collection” of suspected cases by visiting door-to-door. With 83 positive cases, Ahmedabad city is the worst hit in the state that has reported 175 cases.
ખાસ સૂચના – કાલુપુર શાકમાર્કેટ ફ્રૂટમાર્કેટમાં તમામ પ્રકારના વેચાણ પર અને નેહરૂ બ્રિજ ઉપર ખાનગી વાહનો માટે અવર-જવર કરવા પ્રતિબંધ ફરમાવવામાં આવે છે. @AhmedabadPolice #AmdavadFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/iiviOtf93j
— Amdavad Municipal Corporation (@AmdavadAMC) April 7, 2020
Ahmedabad civic chief Vijay Nehra on Tuesday announced that no private vehicle will be allowed to enter Nehru Bridge. Further, the fruit and vegetable market in Kalupur will remain closed till further orders.
First Covid-19 patient cured and discharged from Bhavnagar hospital today. @CMOGuj @GujHFWDept @pkumarias @JayantiRavi @JpShivahare @InfoGujarat @mahiti_bvn pic.twitter.com/FC92HwYpYw
— Collector & District Magistrate, Bhavnagar (@Collectorbhav) April 7, 2020
Tablighi Jamaat played major role in COVID-19 spread: Nitin
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Tuesday said members of the Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat played a major role in spreading coronavirus in the state and the country, by not cooperating with the authorities and hiding their travel history.
COVID-19 વાયરસ અનુસંધાને લોકડાઉન દરમ્યાન જાહેરનામાનો ભંગ કરી બિનજરૂરી દુકાન ચાલુ રાખતા ઇસમને પકડી પાડતી ઇસનપુર પોલીસ.#AmdavadFightsCorona#AhmedabadPolice pic.twitter.com/hP5lrIg88l
— Ahmedabad Police અમદાવાદ પોલીસ (@AhmedabadPolice) April 7, 2020
Speaking to reporters here, Patel said unlike members of the Muslim congregation, Hindu travellers who arrived at airports in Gujarat had not thrown any tantrums and had followed authorities’ instructions.
‘Even in Islamic countries, including Pakistan, we have not heard of violations of the government’s instructions.
COVID-19 સંક્રમણ નિયંત્રણ અન્વયે લેવામાં આવેલ કાયદાકીય કાર્યવાહી અંગેની માહીતી. #AmdavadFightsCorona #AhmedabadPolice pic.twitter.com/ICEjo5SZaT
— Ahmedabad Police અમદાવાદ પોલીસ (@AhmedabadPolice) April 7, 2020
Unfortunately, in India, some radicals and religious fanatics spread a rumour that it would harm their religion,’ the BJP leader said.
Members of the Tablighi Jamaat played a major role in spreading coronavirus, the Deputy Chief Minister said.
‘After returning to their homes in respective states from Delhi, they should have informed the authorities. This could have contained the spread,’ Patel said.
Majority of international travellers, who arrived in Gujarat were Hindus, he said, adding that none of them had thrown tantrums and had followed all instructions and opted for quarantine.
‘If members of the Jamaat had done the same and had informed the authorities or came forward for medical check-ups, the quantum of spread would have been less. They should understand that their action mostly affected people from the minority community only,’ he said.
Of the 126 persons from Gujarat, who had attended the event in Nizamuddin last month, 12 from Ahmedabad tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
Secretary to Chief Minister Ashwini Kumar said that on Tuesday over 6.25 lakh litres of additional milk was collected from farmers who used to earlier supply it to private dairies. The state government had earlier allowed farmers connected with private dairies to sell their milk to the 18 milk cooperative unions in Gujarat. This step was taken after the private dairies were closed during the lockdown. These milk cooperative unions in Gujarat collect approximately 210 lakh litres of milk daily from farmers in the state.
Kumar also said that the vegetable market in Ahmedabad has been shifted from Jamalpur to Jetalpur on Tuesday and there are no issues regarding the supply of vegetables in the city. He said that the APMC in Surat city was shut down on Monday and now it will be reopened on Wednesday after certain facilities to maintain social distancing were added.
Govt announces Rs 25 lakh compensation for staff
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that the cover will be extended to all government employees who are involved in jobs related to the pandemic.
The Gujarat government on Tuesday said state government employees, who are engaged in work related to coronavirus, will be eligible for Rs 25 lakh compensation in case they get infected and die in the line of duty.
શેલ્ટર હોમ ની મુલાકાત લઇ તેમાં આપવામાં આવતી સુવિધાઓની સમીક્ષા કરી. pic.twitter.com/7Lvbq0BFgt
— DEO & Collector Kheda (@collectorkheda) April 7, 2020
The government had earlier announced Rs 25 lakh compensation to the next of kin of front-line staff, including police personnel, health and sanitation workers, staff of revenue and food supply department and fair price shopkeepers.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that the cover will be extended to all government employees who are involved in jobs related to the pandemic.
Family members of such employees would be paid Rs 25 lakh compensation if the personnel contract the infection and succumb to it, the Chief Minister’s secretary Ashwani Kumar said.
All contractual, fixed pay or any other employees of the Gujarat government will be eligible for this compensation package, he said.
Meanwhile, Kumar said during the 21-day lockdown, the Centre had deposited Rs 800 crore in the bank accounts of around 40 lakh farmers in the state under the Prime Minister’s Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, with each farmer getting Rs 2,000.
The Central government will pay Rs 6,000 to each farmer in three instalments in a year under the scheme, he added.
