NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, NOV 17
Rubbishing a false message about another lockdown, Gujarat minister Kumar Kanani on Tuesday said the state government has no such plans in wake of the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.
ગ્રાફના માધ્યમથી સમજો પ્રતિદિવસ અલગ-અલગ દેશમાં #COVID19 ના કેટલા પરીક્ષણ કરવામાં આવે છે.: #COVID19 મુદ્દે પ્રેસ કોન્ફરન્સ @GujHFWDept @MoHFW_INDIA @PIB_India @ICMRDELHI #Unite2FightCorona #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/DEQtk2RVGZ
— Central Bureau of Communication, Ahmedabad,Gujarat (@CBCAhmedabad) November 17, 2020
The minister of state for health made the statement, as a letter with his name allegedly asking chairmen and secretaries of housing societies to opt for a “voluntary lockdown”, started doing rounds on social media.
“A letter in my name has gone viral on social media, in which chairmen and secretaries of societies have been asked to opt for a voluntary lockdown and implement it strictly at their level,” Kanani said in a statement.
The letter is fake and some elements have done this to create panic among citizens, he said.
“The coronavirus situation in Gujarat is under control. We are not mulling to impose any lockdown. People need not panic because of such fake and baseless messages,” the minister said.
અમદાવાદ શહેરમાં વધતા જતા કોરોનાના કેસો સંદર્ભે અમદાવાદની સિવીલ હોસ્પિટલ ખાતે દર્દીઓને અપાતી સારવાર અને વ્યવસ્થાની રૂબરૂ મુલાકાત લઈ આરોગ્ય વિભાગના ઉચ્ચ અધિકારીઓ સાથે રીવ્યૂ બેઠક કરતા નાયબ મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી @Nitinbhai_Patel pic.twitter.com/qSYYF1fFbi
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) November 16, 2020
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also the state”s health minister, urged people not to panic due to the recent hike in cases.
“Cases have indeed risen to some extent, but people need not panic. COVID-19 cases had come down to around 800 (in October) from the earlier 1,200 (emerging daily a few months back), and now the count has again increased to 1,100 to 1,200,” Patel said.
“We need to be more careful in this scenario, especially when people travel from one place to another and meet their relatives and friends this festive season,” he told reporters in Gandhinagar.
Gujarat reports 1,125 cases, 1,116 recoveries; 7 die
Gujarat’s coronavirus tally rose to 1,90,361 with the addition of 1,125 new cases on Tuesday, the state health department said.
As many as seven more COVID-19 patients died, taking the statewide fatalities to 3,815, it said.
At the same time, 1,116 patients were discharged from various hospitals in the state, pushing the number of recovered cases to 1,74,088, the department said in a release.
With this, the recovery rate in Gujarat stood at 91. 45 percent, it said, adding the state now has 12,458 active cases.
The state conducted 47,328 tests in the last 24 hours, at a rate of 728.12 tests per day per million population, taking the count of samples examined so far to 69,23,993, said the department.
Gujarat COVID-19 figures are positive cases 1,90,361, new cases 1,125, deaths 3,815, discharged 1,74,088, active cases 12,458, people tested so far 69,23,993.
Ahmedabad’s COVID-19 count goes up by 234; four more die
With the addition of 234 new COVID-19 cases, the highest in Gujarat, the tally in Ahmedabad district reached 45,802 on Tuesday, an official from the state health department said.
At least 217 patients were discharged from various hospitals during the day, while four died of the infection, the official said.
The latest casualties have taken the toll in the district to 1,939 and the count of recoveries rose to 40,503, he said.
Of the new infections, Ahmedabad city accounted for 218 cases and 16 were detected in rural areas.
In the case of recoveries, the city and rural parts reported 203 and 14 such cases, respectively, it was stated.
According to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the city’s north-west zone has 478 active cases, the highest in the city, followed by the west zone with 472, south-west zone with 442 and south zone with 425 cases.
Of the seven zones, the central zone has the lowest number of active cases at 280, the AMC said.
Bed occupancy in private hospitals in Ahmedabad was at 90.6 percent, the Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association said.
For critical COVID-19 patients, only 28 beds in ICUs with a ventilator facility are available and 338 occupied, it was stated.
In isolation wards, 771 beds are occupied and 104 available.
Government hospitals have also seen an influx of patients over the last few days due to the rise in cases in the district, officials said.
Surat district reports 180 new cases; as many recover
Surat district on Tuesday reported 180 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the count of infections to 38,980, the state health department said.
Three fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,041, it said.
Simultaneously, 180 patients recovered in the day.
Athwa locality added 31 new cases in the day, taking its tally to 5,537, the highest in the city.
A total of 12,631 people remained quarantined in the city, the municipal corporation said.
