NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, DEC 23
The Gujarat health department has directed officials to ensure “strict” compliance with the Central guidelines regarding passengers arriving from the UK, where a new mutated strain of coronavirus has been detected.
TEST IS BEST pic.twitter.com/ELdXwB9CmZ
— Mukesh Kumar (@Mukeshias) December 23, 2020
As per a circular issued on Tuesday, all chief district health officers and medical officers of eight municipal corporations in Gujarat have been directed to follow these guidelines.
On Tuesday, four passengers, including a British national who landed in Ahmedabad in an Air India flight from London tested positive for coronavirus, officials had said.
As per the guidelines issued by the Union government, “those international travellers from the UK who arrived in India from November 25 to December 8 will be contacted by district surveillance officers and advised to self-monitor their health. If anyone amongst them develops symptoms, they will be tested by RT-PCR test.
The Union health ministry had issued a set of Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) stating that “If a passenger is tested positive, genetic sequencing will be done. The District Surveillance Officer has to ensure daily follow up of passengers under observation for 28 days, starting from the date of their arrival”.
India has suspended all flights to and from the United Kingdom from December 23 to December 31.
AMC
Corona Testing continues at commercial Establishments, Malls, Business Houses .. pic.twitter.com/oo28LIBRqO— Mukesh Kumar (@Mukeshias) December 23, 2020
Gujarat sees 958 new COVID-19 cases, 1,309 recoveries; 6 die
Gujarat on Wednesday reported 958 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 2,38,205, the state health department said.
With six more persons succumbing to the viral disease, including four in Ahmedabad and two in Surat, the total death toll in the state rose to 4,254, it said in a release.
A total of 1,309 patients were discharged during the day, taking the number of recoveries in Gujarat to 2,22,911, the department said, adding that the recovery rate in the state now stands at 93.58 percent.
The number of active cases in the state is 11,040, the department said.
With 54,843 new tests, the number of tests conducted in Gujarat has gone up to 92,17,823.
At 202, Ahmedabad reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the state in the day, followed by Surat 157, Vadodara 128, and Rajkot 126, the release said.
Among other districts, Gandhinagar reported 34 new cases, Kheda 33, Mehsana 31, Kutch 24, Dahod 23, Junagadh 19, Jamnagar 18, Sabarkantha 17, Surendranagar 16, while 15 cases each were reported from Bhavnagar, Banaskantha, and Morbi.
The Union Territory (UT) of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli reported just one fresh COVID-19 case during the day, taking the overall caseload to 3,337. With four more persons being discharged in the day, the tally of recoveries went up to 3,329.
The UT has six active cases now, officials said.
The number of tests conducted during the day in the UT and the overall number of samples tested was not made available by authorities.
Gujarat COVID-19 figures are positive cases 2,38,205, new cases 958, deaths 4,254, active cases 11,040 and people tested so far 92,17,823.
Ahmedabad records 202 new cases; four more casualties
The count of COVID-19 cases in Gujarat”s Ahmedabad district rose to 56,207, after 202 persons tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, an official from the state health department said.
Apart from this, 221 patients were discharged from various hospitals and four died of the infection, the official said.
With this, the toll in the district has reached 2,223, while the number of recoveries has risen to 51,013, he said.
According to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the city’s west zone continues to be the worst affected with 400 active cases, followed by the northwest zone with 398, and the south zone with 397 cases.
With 281 infections, the city’s central zone has the lowest number of active cases, it was stated.
The city currently has 10 micro-containment areas, the civic body said.
At least 24 percent beds or 781 out of 3,266 available beds are occupied as on date, the Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNA) said.
157 new coronavirus cases in Surat, two deaths
Surat district recorded 157 new coronavirus cases and two deaths on Wednesday, the Gujarat health departmentsaid.
The total of COVID-19 cases in the district rose to 48,000, while the death toll reached 1,125.
As many as 147 patients recovered from the viral infection during the day, said the department in its release.
Surat city reported 123 new cases and 121 recoveries, while the rural parts recorded 34 new cases and 26 recoveries.
A total of 34,293 patients have been discharged in Surat city so far, with its recovery rate standing at 95.42 percent, said the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
As many as 10,990 people are quarantined in the city, it said.
The number of patients admitted in city hospitals is 236, out of which 78 are admitted in two government hospitals.
The bed occupancy rate in the city”s two government hospitals – civil and SMIMER – is 1.9 and 4.2 percent, respectively.
In rural Surat, a total of 1,009 patients are home quarantined, health officials said.
Kamrej tehsil reported four new cases, taking its case tally to 2,486, the highest among nine tehsils.
