NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MAY 15
The total number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat reached 9,932 on Friday with 340 new cases being reported since the previous night, 261 of them in Ahmedabad district, a senior official said.
A good strategy https://t.co/rinyf7Z6ys
— Pankaj Kumar (@pkumarias) May 15, 2020
During the same period, 20 persons succumbed to the infection, taking the death toll due to coronavirus in the state to 606, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.
On the other hand, 282 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals across the state, taking the total number of recovered patients to 4,035, she said.
#GujaratFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/wdAaEN6dh3
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) May 15, 2020
According to Ravi, the recovery rate has reached 40.62 percent from 38.43 percent as of Thursday.
Among those who walked out of hospitals after recovery was a 90-year-old COVID-19 patient woman in Vadodara who defeated the virus, disproving the notion that it is hard for aged persons to recover from infection, Ravi said.
शरीर माध्यम् खलु धर्म साधनम्। कोरोना संक्रमण का सामना करने का एक ही उपाय है अपनी लाइफ स्टाइल में परिवर्तन कर रोग प्रतिरक्षात्मक शक्ति को बढ़ाएं। इसके लिए व्यायाम और प्राणायाम की जरूरत है जो हम योग से सीखते हैं, अनुशासित जीवन पद्धति की जरूरत है। pic.twitter.com/WiqBULXlYY
— Acharya Devvrat (@ADevvrat) May 15, 2020
Of the 340 new cases recorded in Gujarat in 24 hours, 261 were from Ahmedabad district alone.
Other districts where a significant number of cases were found since Thursday night were Surat (32), Vadodara (15), Rajkot (12), and Gandhinagar (11).
14 patients died in Ahmedabad, three in Surat and one each in Panchmahal, Anand, and Mehsana districts.
Wonderful painting and essay by Heet shah (Standard – 7)
Very creative! #CoronaWarriorsIndia#GujaratFightsCovid19#IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/jfrh0JXQeX
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) May 15, 2020
Out of 9,932 cases recorded in Gujarat so far, as many as 7,171 were reported in Ahmedabad district, followed by 1,015 in Surat and 625 in Vadodara. A majority of deaths were also reported in these three districts.
While 479 coronavirus patients have died so far in Ahmedabad, 47 have died in Surat and 32 in Vadodara.
Gujarat COVID-19 figures are, thus, as follows: Positive cases 9,932, new cases 340, deaths 606, discharged 4,035, active cases 5,291, and people tested so far 1,27,859.
Children from Angel Hobby Zone distributed this ‘Corona Alphabet’ to people. 6Years old Jisha Buddhdev was explaining people how to deal with Corona. Happy to see awareness among young. #જીતશેજૂનાગઢકોરોનાનોજંગ campaign is picking up.@collectorjunag @InfoGujarat pic.twitter.com/e7fEL61uNG
— Tushar D. Sumera,IAS (@TusharSumeraIAS) May 15, 2020
A’bad records 261 new cases, tally over 7K
The number of coronavirus positive patients in Ahmedabad district rose to 7,171 after 261 new cases were reported since Thursday night, officials said.
Of the 20 COVID-19 patients who succumbed to the infection across Gujarat during this period, 14 died at hospitals in Ahmedabad city, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.
ભવિષ્યમાં કોરોના સંક્રમણ સુપર સ્પ્રેડર મારફતે ન ફેલાય તે માટે અ.મ્યુ.કો. દ્વારા ઉત્તમ કામગીરી કરેલ છે. લોકો નિયમોનુ પાલન કરે અને સુરક્ષિત રહી ખરીદી કરે તેવી અધિક મુખ્ય સચિવ ડૉ. રાજીવ કુમાર ગુપ્તા આઇ.એ.એસ, ની અપીલ.@PMOIndia @CMOGuj @drrajivguptaias @Mukeshias @ibijalpatel pic.twitter.com/jCkc1Ll5i0
— Amdavad Municipal Corporation (@AmdavadAMC) May 15, 2020
The death toll in the district thus reached 479.
Of the total 282 patients given discharge orders in Gujarat during the last 24 hours, 135 were from Ahmedabad alone.
Out of the total 7,171 cases registered in Ahmedabad district so far, as many as 130 cases are from rural areas, while remaining are from the city localities.
To contain the spread of the virus, Ahmedabad city was put under a complete lockdown since May 7, as the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had ordered the closure of all the shops except those providing milk and medicine from May 7 till May 15.
સમગ્ર દેશમાં કોરોનાનો પ્રકોપ વર્તી રહ્યો છે ત્યારે આ મહામારીના સમયમાં પણ મોરબીના વીસીપરામાં સરકારી હોસ્પિટલમાં દર્દીઓને તપાસવા, બાળકોને રસી આપવી તેમજ કોરોન્ટાઇન કરેલ વ્યક્તિઓના આરોગ્યની તપાસ કરવાની ફરજ અદા કરીને પોતાના શ્રીમંત પ્રસંગને મુલતવી રાખીને સાત માસના… pic.twitter.com/1Ih1THzuYr
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) May 15, 2020
On Friday, all the shops selling essential items, like fruits, vegetables, and groceries, reopened in the city.
“The situation will get normal in the next couple of days. We have so far conducted tests of around 12,500 super spreaders, such as vegetable vendors, and found 700 of them positive for coronavirus. We stopped them from spreading the virus,” said Additional Chief Secretary Rajiv Gupta, who is overseeing works related to COVID-19 in Ahmedabad.
In the 10 containment zones — out of the 48 wards in the city — the shops remained open from 8 am to 1 pm. In the non-containment areas, shops remained open for seven hours from 8 am.
Gupta said 17,000 vendors have been given health screening cards, which they have to get re-validated after a week.
He said in the last one week, around 33,000 super spreaders were screened..
Shops of essential commodities will open in state capital Gandhinagar from Saturday.
ગુજરાત સરકારશ્રીના સહયોગથી કોવિડ-૧૯ અંતર્ગત ગીચ વસ્તી ધરાવતા વિસ્તારોના નાગરિકો માટે મેડિકલ સુવિધા – ધનવન્તરી આરોગ્ય રથ અને સંજીવની રથ. #AmdavadFightsCorona #AmdavadAMC pic.twitter.com/ZcAJoJOST8
— Amdavad Municipal Corporation (@AmdavadAMC) May 15, 2020
Regulate ‘exorbitant’ fees charged by private hospitals treating COVID-19 patients: HC
The Gujarat High Court has asked the state government to take necessary steps to regulate the “exorbitant” fees charged by private hospitals that are authorised to treat coronavirus patients.
The order was passed on Thursday by a division bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ilesh Vora which took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of news reports about various issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, including the high cost of treatment in private hospitals.
The bench warned private hospitals against charging high amounts for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The HC, in its ruling, noted that some private hospitals authorised by the government to treat coronavirus patients in Ahmedabad are charging fees “running in lakhs of rupees and an ordinary man will never be able to afford to avail adequate treatment from a private hospital”.
The bench directed the state government to ensure that private hospitals do not charge “exorbitant fees for the treatment of COVID-19 patients”.
Since state-run hospitals are almost full with COVID-19 patients, the bench stressed that the government should authorise more private medical facilities to treat such cases.
The HC noted that the fee structure of such private hospitals “should be regulated by the state government for COVID-19 treatment”.
“These are difficult times and not the time to do business and earn a profit. Medical services are the most essential service and private hospitals can not demand lakhs of rupees from a patient.
“Few private hospitals in Ahmedabad are demanding exorbitant fees running in lakhs of rupees. This is unjustified and deserves to be deprecated,” said the high court.
While asking the state to step in and “resolve the issue” immediately, the court even issued a warning to private hospitals.
The bench said, “If private hospitals do not budge and continue to demand exorbitant amount, then this court will have to take legal action, including cancellation of licence”.
આજે આમદાવાદથી ટ્રેનમાં વતન પરત ફરતા પહેલા, કર્મભૂમિને વંદન કરી ક્રિશ્નાદેવી અને તેમના પતિએ ટ્રેનમાં પગ મુક્યો અને ગુજરાત પાછા આવવાની પણ કરી વાત. અમદાવાદમાં રહેતા મુળ રાયબરેલીના વતની શ્રીમતી ક્રિશ્નાવતી એ વતન પાછા ફરવા ટ્રેનની સુવિધા કરી આપવા બદલ સરકારનો આભાર માન્યો @InfoGujarat pic.twitter.com/0hR3X4QNIa
— DD News Gujarati (@DDNewsGujarati) May 15, 2020
Migrants pelt stones at police in Bharuch
Desperate to return to their home states, a group of 150 migrant workers hurled stones at the police in Dahej industrial area of Bharuch district on Friday morning, a senior official said.
The police lobbed two teargas shells to clear the mob that had gathered in the area to demand a return passage to their home states amid the COVID-19 lockdown, Bharuch district superintendent of police Rajendrasinh Chudasama said.
અમરેલીના મહિલા ગૃહ ઉદ્યોગની અનોખી પહેલ.
વેસ્ટ માંથી બેસ્ટના સૂત્ર સાથે બનાવ્યા કોરોના ના સેફ્ટી કવર.
રોજ 100 થી 150 લોકો માટે રોજગારની તક ઉભી થાય છે.@CollectorAmr @InfoGujarat #Amreli pic.twitter.com/AnFDBruJEj— DD News Gujarati (@DDNewsGujarati) May 15, 2020
Migrant workers, stranded in the district because of the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, had staged several protests in the last two days in support of their demand that they be sent to their hometowns by Shramik Special trains, he said.
“Even on Thursday, many of them took to the streets. But they went back after I personally appealed to them to be patient as their online registration was done and they only had to wait for confirmation from the authorities,” Chudasama said.
However, 150 of them once again came out on Friday, voicing the same demand and pelted stones on police vehicles, he said, adding two teargas shells had to be lobbed to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, around 400 labourers from Bihar held a peaceful rally in Botad town of Botad district on Friday, demanding immediate arrangements for them to travel back to their ancestral homes.
Before things could get out of hand, the police stopped the protesters at a market and convinced them to wait for confirmation of travel arrangements from the authorities, an official said.
Botad district collector Vishal Gupta claimed that migrants are stuck because approvals for sending them back are pending from the Bihar government since May 10.
“The district administration has made all arrangements to send the migrants back. We have done their medical check-ups and arranged for buses to ferry them to the railway station.
“There is a delay because the Bihar government has not given approvals for trains,” he said.