NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 4
Despite taking all efforts to contain the spread of pandemic coronavirus in Gujarat by the state health department and COVID Warriors, the state crossed the hundred figure mark with 105 positive cases of Coronavirus on Saturday and also reached double digits as far as total deaths are concerned, says a health department official.
At least 10 new positive cases were found on Saturday and one more death in Ahmedabad took the total death toll in the state to 10.
“A 67-year-old female having comorbid conditions like asthma and lung disease succumbed to the dreaded virus. She was admitted at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) hospital in Ahmedabad on March 28. She had contracted the virus from her husband who had a travel history to Indore,” said Jayanti Ravi, Principal secretary, health on Saturday.
Let's adopt some simple home remedies for prevention and boosting immunity in our battle against Corona virus.#IndiaFightsCorona #GujaratFightsCovid19 pic.twitter.com/rEjF1jYmnf
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) April 4, 2020
“A total of 10 new positive cases, aged between 10 and 69, of Coronavirus were found on Saturday. This includes five male and five female new coronavirus patients. One had a travel history to Mumbai,” said Ravi.
#IndiaFightsCorona #GujaratFightsCovid19 pic.twitter.com/fN3j4OQ0UB
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) April 3, 2020
“Since yesterday evening, 5 patients have been discharged. A female (27) from SSG hospital Vadodara and a female (80), a male (50) and a female (23) have been discharged from the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) hospital Gandhinagar. Till now 14 patients have been discharged from hospitals and the conditions of 81 admitted patients are said to be stable and none of them is on the ventilator,” said Ravi.
कोरोना वायरस का संक्रमण समय,जगह,व्यक्ति,उम्र या तारीख़ के अनुसार नहीं बल्कि कभी भी,कहीं भी, किसी को भी संभव है।
संक्रमण की ज़रा सी भी आशंका हो तो तुरंत डॉक्टर से संपर्क कीजिये, जानकारी दीजिये, खुद को सबसे अलग कीजिये।
ख़ुद सजग-सतर्क तो घर-परिवार भी सुरक्षित।#IndiaFightsCorona— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) April 4, 2020
According to sources, a positive patient was discharged from Gandhinagar, late Friday evening.
“Both the male (50) and female (80) from Gandhinagar had comorbid conditions like Diabetes and Hypertension. So it proves that you can defeat Corona at the age of even 80 if you have a strong immunization system,” added Ravi.
બની શકે છે તમારી પાસે ઉભેલો વ્યક્તિ કોરોના સંક્રમિત હોય!
કોરોના યોદ્ધા બનો, સામાજીક અંતર ✅#AmdavadFightsCorona @AhmedabadPolice pic.twitter.com/ZtrVD9pC2H
— Amdavad Municipal Corporation (@AmdavadAMC) April 4, 2020
With this, the total number of positive cases reached 105 in Gujarat. The maximum number of cases are in Ahmedabad – 43 (5 death, 5 cured), followed by Gandhinagar -13 (4 cured), Surat 12 (1 death, 3 cured), Rajkot 10 (1 cured), Vadodara (1 death, 1 cured) and Bhavnagar 9 (2 death) each, Porbandar 3, Gir-Somnath – 2 and 1 each in Kutch, Mehsana, Panchmahal and Patan.
Another female Covid patient discharged from SSG hospital in #Vadodara. She is the third patient in Vadodara who has been discharged after reports of the repeat test came negative. #IndiaFightsCorona
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) April 4, 2020
“Out of the total 105 cases, 33 had a travel history to foreign countries, 10 interstate travel and 62 have been locally infected,” added Ravi.
“It cannot be said that these numbers won’t increase and so we are planning that even if positive cases rise exponentially, we will be prepared. Since the last two days, active surveillance is carried out in Ahmedabad with detailed door to door survey to find out positive cases. We found out four positive cases through such surveillance,” added Ravi.
“We request and appeal to the public to co-operate with the health authorities and the police in such surveillance,” added Ravi.
14 religious places inspected, not open for public: Govt to HC
The Gujarat government on Friday told the Gujarat High Court (HC) that it had inspected 14 religious places across the state since April 1, including three churches, seven mosques, and four temples, to check if public gatherings are taking place or not. To this effect, the state submitted that their inquiry has revealed that “Aarti / Namaaz / Prayer is being held at these religious places, but they are being conducted by the administration (Mostly only Pujaari / Muezzin / Father are present), and these prayers are not open for public. However, the officers and personnel of Special Operation Groups have been directed to keep a watch on religious places of importance in their jurisdictions and report violations, if any, and take necessary actions.”
Honourable Home Minister Shri Pradipsinh Jadeja @PradipsinhGuj visited the Ahmedabad City Control Room and inspected the use of modern and hi-tech city surveillance system (Vishwas Project).
Watch Here – https://t.co/7x7vTx2a2o#AmdavadFightsCorona#AhmedabadPolice
— Ahmedabad Police અમદાવાદ પોલીસ (@AhmedabadPolice) April 4, 2020
The Gujarat HC was hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed after the court took suo moto cognisance of the WHO’s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic.
Submitting its Action Taken Report (ATR) before the HC on Friday, the state government said that as of Thursday, “detailed analysis of the technical and human intelligence so far collected by Gujarat Police, presently points to the presence of total 84 Tablighi Jamaat members to have attended the Markaz from 1st March to 22nd / 23rd March.” By Friday evening, the police had found the presence of 103 such members.
SHE Teams from Chandkheda and Naroda Police Station are serving Senior Citizens by taking them to Urban Health Center from their respective places for health check-ups on Daily Basis as well as providing medical check-ups at their door step.#SHETeam#AmdavadFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/hw8yiwG3UJ
— Ahmedabad Police અમદાવાદ પોલીસ (@AhmedabadPolice) April 3, 2020
Meanwhile, through a communication from the Central Intelligence Bureau, a list of 1,350 mobile numbers and details of the subscribers were shared with the Gujarat government, as these numbers were found to have been in the cell tower location of the Nizamuddin Markaz between March 14 and March 23.
Among these, 1,282 persons have been traced so far and the process to locate the remaining 68 persons is on, the state submitted on Friday.
Overall, the court expressed its satisfaction with the progress while also reminding that the state “would continue with their endeavor in the same letter and spirit to deal in the present critical condition created by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and the Tablighi Jamaat because of which, the entire nation is in a state of lockdown for 21 days beginning 25th March 2020 till 14th April 2020.” The PIL is expected to be heard next on April 17.
The state also submitted before the HC that 9,75,000 N-95 masks, 3,58,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, and 1.23 crore triple layer masks are being made available.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday announced that those covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) would also get wheat, rice, and dal for free, along with salt and sugar for April because of the lockdown.
The Gujarat government had earlier in the day, submitted before the HC that Below Poverty Line, Above Poverty Line-1 and Above Poverty Line-2 cardholders have now been brought at par with the category of Priority Household (PHH) beneficiaries, “whose entitlement is based on an individual cardholder in a family i.e. per person, where other members are also cardholders and their cumulative entitlement becomes very significant.”
Rupani said that nearly 3.40 lakh people, who hold BPL cards but do not get grains under the NFSA, would benefit from this decision.
Private doctors to get free N95 masks
Gujarat government has decided to provide 25,000 N95 masks to private doctors in the state so that they can provide better healthcare facilities to people, said Secretary to the Chief Minister Ashwini Kumar on Friday while addressing media persons on various decisions taken by the state government against COVID-19 outbreak.
Kumar said that the Indian Medical Association had requested the state government to provide the N95 masks free of cost to the private doctors so that they can provide effective healthcare services to the people. “So, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered to provide 25,000 N95 masks free of cost to the president of the Indian Medical Association, Monaben Desai, and she will provide the same to the private doctors at every level of the state,” said Kumar.
Kumar said that while the state government is providing necessary protective equipment to doctors serving government hospitals, the latest decision of giving N95 masks to private doctors will strengthen the fight against the virus. Regarding the state government’s challenge to provide ration to 66 lakh priority households (PHH) holding cards under the National Food Security Act during the ongoing nationwide lockdown, Kumar said that within 2.5 days, 31 lakh PHH have been provided wheat, rice, dal, sugar, and salt. The remaining families will also be covered shortly and if necessary the process will be extended for a couple of more days to ensure that none of the 66 lakh families are left from getting the benefit, said Kumar. He also said that at present more than 10,000 people are living in shelter homes created by the state government.
