NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APR 28
Gujarat registered 14,120 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, while 174 people succumbed to the infection, the highest single-day fatalities so far, the state health department said.
With the addition of 14,120 new patients, the state’s tally of coronavirus cases rose to 5,38,845, the department said in a release here.
On Tuesday, Gujarat had registered 14,352 cases, the highest in a day so far.
After the death of 174 more patients, the statewide toll increased to 6,830, the department said.
The previous highest single-day toll was 170, reported on April 27.
With 8,595 people getting discharged during the day, the number of recovered cases rose to 3,98,824, it said.
The state’s COVID-19 recovery rate further dropped to 74.01 percent, the release said.
Gujarat currently has 1,33,191 active cases, of which 421 patients are critical, said the department.
Ahmedabad recorded 5,740 new cases, the highest in the state, followed by Surat with 2,116, Vadodara 858, Jamnagar 721, Rajkot 434, Bhavnagar 385, Gandhinagar 324, among others.
Ahmedabad also recorded the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities at 26, followed by Jamnagar at 25, Surat 19, and Vadodara 16, among other districts, said the department.
Gujarat has administered vaccines to 1,17,57,862 beneficiaries so far with 21,93,303 of them getting the second shot as well, said the department.
The government is all set to start vaccinating people in the 18 to 44 age group from May 1, for which registration started on Wednesday, it said.
The number of coronavirus cases in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu rose to 7,234 with the addition of 180 new infections, officials said.
Recoveries increased to 5,083 after 221 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, they said.
There are now 2,147 active cases in the UT which has reported four deaths so far, the officials said.
Gujarat’s COVID-19 figures are positive cases 5,38,845, new cases 14,120, death toll 6,830, discharged 3,98,824, active cases 1,33,191, people tested so far (figures not released).
Remdesivir vials worth Rs 5 lakh seized; 5 nabbed
Five persons were arrested on Wednesday in Gujarat with 90 Remdesivir injections worth Rs 4.86 lakh which they were planning to sell in the black market, police officials said.
Four of them were arrested from Vadodara city, while the fifth one was nabbed from Anand town, they said.
This was the biggest haul of Remdesivir injections recovered by the police in Gujarat from black marketeers so far, said Vadodara police commissioner Shamsher Singh.
Remdesivir injections, widely used to treat critical coronavirus patients, are in high demand nationwide after the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
While 45 vials were recovered from four residents of Vadodara city, the remaining 45 injections were seized from the fifth accused, Jatin Patel, a native of neighbouring Anand town, Singh told reporters in Vadodara.
The other accused were identified by the police as Rishi Jedhe, Vikas Patel, Pratik Panchal and Manan Shah, all residents of Vadodara.
All the five accused are into trading of pharma products, the police officer said.
Based on a tip-off, the Vadodara crime branch nabbed Jedhe as soon as he reached the Subhanpura area of the city to deliver Remdesivir injections to a person, said Singh.
“We then nabbed the four others. In all, we recovered 90 vials worth Rs 4.86 lakh (each costing Rs 5,400) from the five persons.
“They were selling each vial for up toRs 20,000. They confessed to have sold around 300 injections till now and had planned to sell another 300 in the black market,” he said.
He said the kingpin of the racket was Jatin Patel, who runs a pharmaceutical agency in Anand and used to procure Remdesivir from one Vivek Shah, who runs a pharmacy.
The alleged role of Vivek Shah in the racket is under investigation, Singh said
