by: Navjeevan Express

Coronavirus: Gujarat reports the highest single-day spike of 280, tally nears 1,400

NE NEWS SERVICE

GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 18

Gujarat on Saturday reported the highest single-day spike of 280 in COVID-19 cases, with Ahmedabad alone accounting for 239 new detections, a Health Department official said.

With this, the number of infected people in the state shot up to 1,376, while the death toll rose by 12 to 53. With 239 new cases and five deaths, Ahmedabad’s tally of coronavirus cases now stands at 862 and the number of the victims at 25, the official said.

“Most of these cases have been reported from hotspot areas in Ahmedabad, mainly due to concentrated testing,” said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.

Simultaneously, the number of people recovered from COVID-19 disease went up to 88 on Saturday with seven more being discharged from hospitals in Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Rajkot, and Gandhinagar.

Of the 12 new deaths, five were from Ahmedabad, two from Surat, and one each from Panchmahal, Anand, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, and Vadodara, she said.

Among other cities, fresh cases were reported from Vadodara (16), Surat (13), Bhavnagar (4). While Panchmahal and Rajkot have each reported two coronavirus positive cases, one case each was reported from Sabarkantha, Anand, Bharuch, Rajkot, and Mahisagar, the official added. Vadodara and Surat each have reported 153 cases so far.

Most of the 12 new victims of COVID-19 suffered from underlying conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, among others, Ravi said.

“The state tested a total of 2,664 samples in the last 24 hours, of which 277 tested positive and the rest negative. So far, a total 26,102 samples have been tested,” Ravi added.

239 new coronavirus cases in Ahmedabad, total 862

With 239 new patients found on Saturday, the number of coronavirus cases in Ahmedabad rose to 862, a health department official said.

The city has witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases over the last few days due to “concentrated testing” in hotspot areas, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.

“Concentrated testing from hotspot areas has led to an increase in number of cases from Ahmedabad. Among the affected localities are Behrampura, Chandlodia, Dariyapur, Danilimda, Manekchowk, Ellis bridge, Ishanpur, Navrangpura, Motera, Nikol, Saraspur, Gomtipur, Jamalpur, Astodia, and Kubernagar,” Ravi said.

Twenty-five COVID-19 patients have died in Ahmedabad so far, while 27 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

Around 13,000 samples have been tested in the city – the highest in the state – as part of proactive testing approach of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

https://twitter.com/DahodMahiti/status/1251442761464602625?s=20

The AMC has also roped in private laboratories and deployed mobile vans to ramp up testing.

“Extensive surveillance by health workers has helped us find new cases, which reduced the possibility of cases in lakhs and deaths in thousands. We conducted aggressive testing, from 25-30 per day to 1,500-2,000, that too by approaching people at their houses,” Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra said.

“The situation is still worsening because we have not been able to make people aware completely,” he added

Curfew has been imposed in parts of the walled city area of Ahmedabad as well as localities like Danilimda and Behrampura to contain the virus spread.

60 journalists in Rajkot undergo corona test, quarantined

60 journalists who were reporting in an affected area of Jungleshwar in Rajkot where one person was tested positive for coronavirus.

He was was in contact with several journalists, police, local civic authorities, and local administration officials.

The local administration has imposed curfew in Jungleshwar area of Rajkot with effect from Saturday 00:00 hrs and the area has been under quarantine as most of the cases in Rajkot have surfaced from Jungleshwar area.

Govt announces Rs 1K aid per 66L ration card-holding families

The Gujarat government will deposit Rs 1,000 into bank accounts of each of 66 lakh families holding ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in view of the coronavirus lockdown, a senior official said on Saturday.

The state government has set aside Rs 660 crore for this purpose, the official said.

“An amount of Rs 1,000 will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of each of the 66 lakh ration card holding families under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The money will help the NFSA card-holding poor and middle-class families who are affected by the lockdown,” he told reporters.

These families will start receiving assistance from April 20.

“Starting Monday, NFSA card-holding families will get Rs 1000 assistance for April. The distribution will be done based on the database available with the state government. These families need not do any formalities,” said Ashwani Kumar, secretary to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

Earlier, about 60 lakh families holding APL-1 (Above Poverty Line) cards were offered food grains, of which 45 lakh families have availed the facility, he said.

The state government will continue to provide food to the needy persons, irrespective of whether they are among the beneficiaries under a government scheme or not, Kumar added.

“Those who still need food can avail it from fair price shops in the coming days,” he said.

Kumar also informed that 63 market yards have become operational in the state to help farmers sell their produce.

“A total of 38,873 quintal produce had arrived in yards and being sold at a good price,” he added.