NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MAY 18
Gujarat on Monday recorded 366 new COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths, including 31 from worst-hit Ahmedabad, taking the case count to 11,746 and the number of fatalities to 694, a health department official said.
Apart from Ahmedabad, two deaths were reported from Surat and one each death from Patan and Bharuch. Out of the total 35 deceased, 13 patients did not have any co-morbidity.
Shri Ashish Bhatia IPS, Commissioner of Police (Ahmedabad City Police) is now LIVE. https://t.co/MkNMDh9ibI
— Ahmedabad Police અમદાવાદ પોલીસ (@AhmedabadPolice) May 18, 2020
Out of the total positive cases found on Monday, Ahmedabad continued to lead with 263, followed by Surat at 33, Vadodara 22, Gandhinagar 12, Patan 7, Valsad 6 and Dahod and Bhavnagar with 4 each, Aravalli, Kutch, and Junagadh reporting 3 cases each, Mahisagar 2 and Kheda, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Sabarkantha with one each.
મોરબી જિલ્લાની પળેપળના સમાચારો લોકો સુધી પહોંચાડતા કોરોના વોરિયર્સ મોરબીના પત્રકારોનો પણ કોરોના ટેસ્ટ માટે આજે મોરબીમાં સેમ્પલ લેવાયા હતા. મોરબી સિવીલ હોસ્પિટલના અધિક્ષકની સુચનાથી અને આર.એમ.ઓ.ના માર્ગદર્શન હેઠળ મોરબીના ૨૦ જેટલા પત્રકારોના હેલ્થ સ્ક્રીનીગ કરવામાં આવ્યા હતા. pic.twitter.com/64K9NRQ51v
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) May 18, 2020
With one of the highest mortality rates of 5.9, Gujarat’s death toll, rapidly climbing towards 700 with 694 deaths, is a worry for the health authorities. The month of May has been very grim for corona patients, as the state is reporting over 20 deaths daily. A total of 480 people, out of the total 694, have succumbed to the virus during these 18 days of May.
લૉકડાઉન 4માં મોટી છૂટછાટ
– સરકારે કન્ટેઇનમેન્ટ અને નોન કન્ટેઇનમેન્ટ એમ બે ઝોન પાડ્યા
– કન્ટેઇનમેન્ટ ઝોનમાં આવશ્યક સેવાઓ સિવાય કોઇ છૂટ નહીં
– અમદાવાદ અને સુરત સિવાય રાજ્યમાં રિક્ષા ચાલુ કરી શકાશે
– રિક્ષામાં બે થી વધુ મુસાફરો બેસી શકશે નહીં#lockdown4guidelines pic.twitter.com/509qGCmqF7— DD News Gujarati (@DDNewsGujarati) May 18, 2020
Till date, out of the total 694 deaths, 555 people have died in Ahmedabad alone (almost 80 per cent), followed by 53 in Surat, 32 in Vadodara, 8 each in Bhavnagar and Anand and 6 each in Gandhinagar and Panchmahals.
On Monday, a total of 305 patients were discharged. Till now, a total of 4,804 patients have been discharged in the state.
Now nearing the 12,000 marks, the total number of positive cases in Gujarat has reached 11,746. Ahmedabad, continued to lead the state with maximum positive cases at 8,683, followed by Surat 1,127, Vadodara 682, Gandhinagar 180, Bhavnagar112, Banaskantha and Anand with 83 each, Aravalli 81, Rajkot 80, Mahesana 75, Panchmahals 71, Botad 56 and Mahisagar with 50.
Health authorities have so far carried out a total of 1,48,824 tests in the state, out of which 11,746 have been found positive and 1,37,078 negative.
There are 6,248 active cases, out of which the condition of 6,210 is stable, whereas 38 critical patients are still on the ventilator.
Gujarat COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 11,746, new cases 366, deaths 694, discharged cases 4,804, active cases 6,248, and people tested so far 1,48,824.
263 new cases in Ahmedabad; 31 more patients die
As many as 31 more coronavirus patients died in hospitals in Ahmedabad, taking the toll in the district to 555 on Monday, while the tally rose to 8,683 with the addition of 263 new cases, the state health department said.
Also, 181 COVID-19 patients were discharged on Monday, taking the number of recovered patients in the district to 2,841, the official said.
The district now has 5,287 active cases.
Thirty-one more coronavirus patients died here, taking the toll in the district to 555, he said.
The city’s areas falling on the eastern side of the Sabarmati river will see no relaxations from Tuesday in the fourth phase of the lockdown, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.
Relaxations in the lockdown will be allowed only in the western part of the city, he said.
At the same time, Rupani said state transport buses will not be allowed to pass through Ahmedabad, the worst-hit coronavirus district in Gujarat.
All these decisions, Rupani said, will be reconsidered at a later stage, looking at the coronavirus situation in the district.
Ahmedabad city’s central zone is the worst-affected by coronavirus pandemic, followed by the south zone. Four civic wards in the central zone and three in the south zone fall under containment zones.
Locally-made ventilators not good enough, say officials
અમદાવાદ સિવિલ હોસ્પિટલના ઓફીસર ઓન સ્પેશિયલ ડ્યુટી ડૉ. એમ.એમ. પ્રભાકરે જણાવ્યું છે કે," કોરોના દર્દીઓની સારવારમાં સ્વદેશી વેન્ટિલેટર ધમણ-1 અને અત્યાધુનિક એવા હાઈ એન્ડ વેન્ટિલેટર એમ બંન્ને ઉપયોગી છે. pic.twitter.com/jtxFKC3R7i
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) May 18, 2020
Authorities in the civil hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s worst coronavirus-hit city, have said ventilators built by a firm in Rajkot and supplied free of cost in large numbers to government facilities last month were not giving ‘desired results’ on COVID-19 patients.
State Health principal secretary Jayanti Ravi said the ventilators, with the brand name ‘Dhaman-1’, supplied at a time when there is huge demand for them due to the virus outbreak, will be upgraded by the manufacturing firm.
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent JV Modi had written to the managing director of Gandhinagar-based Gujarat Medical Services Corporation Limited (GMSCL) for 50 ‘high-end’ ICU ventilators for the 1,200-bed COVID-19 facility, the largest of its kind in the state.
The letter comes at a time when the hospital has been given 230 ‘Dhaman-1’ ventilators, which a doctor here said cannot be termed ‘high end’.
Quoting the head of the anesthesia department of the BJ Medical College, affiliated to the Civil Hospital, Modi said, in the letter dated May 15, that they are not getting ‘desired result’ from Dhaman-1 and AGVA ventilators (both indigenously produced) on COVID-19 patients.
‘We have placed demand for 50 high-end ICU ventilators each for COVID Hospital and Kidney Hospital. With rising coronavirus cases, we need more number of ventilators, as per the demand received by head of anesthesia department,’ Modi said.
Amid global shortage of high-end ventilators during the outbreak, Rajkot-based Jyoti CNC Automation had developed low-cost ventilators in just 10 days in early April, and offered 1,000 pieces free-of-cost to the state government under CSR.
These ventilators were supplied to government hospitals across the state to meet rising demand, Principal Secretary (Health), Jayanti Ravi said.
‘The ventilator was tested and approved by Electronics and Quality Development Centre (EQDC). Our expert doctors also approved it,’ Ravi said.
She said accessories like high-flow nasal canula, oxygen flow meter, circuits and humidifier would be incorporated in them to make them more effective, she said.
Civil Hospital Head of anesthesia Shailesh Shah said Dhaman-1 ventilator in its present form is not as good as what one would term a ‘high-end ventilator’.
‘Luckily, until now, we used these ventilators on very few occasions, as high-end ventilators were available with us in enough numbers. Dhaman-1 is not a good replacement for high-end ventilators, but it can be used in dire emergency when you have nothing else at hand,’ said Shah.
Over the past week, however, the number of coronavirus patients requiring ventilator support has been increasing at the hospital, and depending on Dhaman-1 units was not a good idea, he claimed.
‘We had around 100 ventilators in a 150-bed ICU of COVID hospital. With increasing demand, we have managed to source around 45-47 high-end ventilators from other medical colleges in Gujarat.
‘The problem is good quality ventilators are not available in the market. It is very difficult for us or for the government to procure such ventilators. In such a situation, we have to compromise with the lower version,’ he said.
