NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, DEC 29
Gujarat reported 548 new COVID-19 cases and 19 Omicron cases on Wednesday, crossing the 500-mark for the first time after more than six-and-a- half months, raising its overall tally to 8,30,505, while one more patient succumbed to the infection in the state, the health department said.
The state had last reported more than 500 cases at 544 on June 10. On June 9, 644 coronavirus cases were reported in Gujarat.
Gujarat has witnessed a sharp jump in its daily COVID-19 cases over the last few days, recording 177 infections on Sunday, 204 on Monday, 394 on Tuesday and now 548.
As against 548 new cases, only 65 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, which pushed up the state’s tally of active cases to 1,902, the department said.
As many as 11 patients are critical, said the department in a release.
The death toll rose to 10,116 with one more fatality during the day, it said.
With 278 new cases, Ahmedabad district has recorded an over five-fold jump in daily infections in the last four days, the department data showed.
Surat recorded 80 new cases, followed by Vadodara at 39, Anand 23, Rajkot 27 and Kheda 21 cases, among other districts.
Gujarat on Wednesday reported 19 new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 from four districts, raising their overall tally to 97, the health department said. Also, 17 more patients infected with the new variant have recovered in the state, pushing their count to 41, it said.
Out of the new Omicron cases, 10 persons had a history of international travel, while nine had no travel history, said the department in a release. Ahmedabad city reported eight new cases of the new variant, followed by Surat at six, Vadodara three and Anand two, the release said.
With this, Ahmedabad city accounts for the highest number of such cases at 33. Vadodara city has so far reported 21 Omicron cases, Surat nine, Anand district eight and Kheda six.Omicron, classified as a ‘variant of concern’ by the WHO, is said to be highly contagious and has caused worries all over the world.
