NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 17
The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 1,099 after 170 new cases were reported since Thursday night, putting the state in sixth spot for having crossed 1000 cases in the past 24 hours from 25 districts. And the state government imposed in a part of Rajkot from Friday midnight following a large-scale report of positive cases, a senior health official said.
Gujarat receives the first tranche of 24,000 COVID-19 rapid testing kits from Central Govt. which would prove very useful in rapid and large scale screening of novel coronavirus cases in containment, high-risk and other zones and in regular RT-PCR test of corona positive patients pic.twitter.com/z4oHo7UTsj
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) April 17, 2020
Ashwani Kumar, secretary to the CM said, “ The CM has decided that the designated private hospitals shall provide free of cost COVID-19 treatment and related medicines. At present, there are 31 designated private hospitals.”
વિશ્વવ્યાપી મહામારી કોરોના વાયરસની વર્તમાન સ્થિતિમાં રાજ્યના નાગરિકોને ડેઝિગ્નેટેડ ખાનગી હોસ્પિટલોમાં કોવિડ-19ની તમામ જરૂરી સારવાર-દવાઓ વિનામૂલ્યે પુરી પાડવાનો મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી વિજયભાઈ રૂપાણીનો મહત્વપૂર્ણ નિર્ણય.#IndiaFightsCorona #GujaratFightsCovid19 pic.twitter.com/V8YmzcZlP8
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) April 17, 2020
With five patients dying, the death toll due to the pandemic stood at 41, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi on Friday.
Those who succumbed to the viral infection since Thursday night included a 31-year-old man from Vadodara and a 55-year-old man, a 70-year-old woman and two men aged 69 in Ahmedabad, she said.
Of 41 deaths in Gujarat so far, 21 were reported in Ahmedabad alone, followed by six in Vadodara, five in Surat, three in Bhavnagar and one each in Gandhinagar, Patan, Panchmahal, Kutch, Botad and Jamnagar.
In good news, 13 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals since Thursday night, taking the total number of patients who have recovered to 86, Ravi said.
મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી વિજયભાઈ રૂપાણીએ રાજકોટ શહેરના જંગલેશ્વર વિસ્તારમાં વધુ વ્યાપક બનેલાં કોરોના વાયરસના સંક્રમણની સ્થિતિમાં રાજકોટ જિલ્લા કલેકટર પોલીસ કમિશનર તેમજ પ્રભારી વરિષ્ઠ અધિકારી સાથે વિડિયો કોન્ફરન્સ કરીને પરિસ્થિતિનો તાગ મેળવ્યો હતો. pic.twitter.com/WO9lLes3ID
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) April 17, 2020
Of the 170 new cases in the state, 77 cases were reported in Ahmedabad, followed by 52 in Surat, 14 in Vadodara, eight in Bharuch, five in the Narmada and three in Banaskantha and Botad districts, she said.
Two cases have been found in Panchmahal and one each in Anand, Chhotaudepur, Dahod, Kheda, and Mahisagar.
Ravi attributed the spurt in the number of cases in the state to intensive surveillance and testing in hotspots.
પર્સનલ પ્રોટેકશન ઈકવીપમેન્ટની જરૂરિયાતને પુરી કરવા નવસારી જિલ્લાના બીલીમોરા શહેરના પ્રશાંતભાઇ ટેલરે બીડું ઝડપીને કોરોનાને માત આપવામાં મોટો ભાગ ભજવી રહયા છે. તેઓએ આ અંગે જણાવ્યું કે, "આરોગ્ય વિભાગ તેમજ વિવિધ જગ્યાઍથી પીપીઇ શુટ બનાવવાના ઓર્ડર મળી રહયાં છે. https://t.co/jJwqndmmr2
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) April 17, 2020
The majority of cases reported in Ahmedabad since Thursday were found in Kalupur, Raikhad, Khamasa, Jamalpur, Vejalpur, Dariyapur, Khanpur, Vatva, Chandkheda, and Nikol localities, she said.
Most of the cases in the state have been reported in five districts – Ahmedabad (622), Vadodara (142), Surat (140), Rajkot (28) and Bhavnagar (26).
On Friday Gujarat received 24,000 COVID-19 Rapid Testing Kits from Delhi, said Ravi, adding that another lot of testing kits would arrive in the next two-three days.
Meanwhile, what has started worrying the government is frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, and policemen getting infected. On Friday, a surgeon posted at LG hospital in the city was tested positive. The surgeon is the son of a senior medical officer posted with the civil hospital, Asarwa in Ahmedabad.
While the son has been admitted to SVP hospital, his family members including father, mother, and wife have been home quarantined. Principal secretary, health, Jayanti Ravi confirmed the development.
On Thursday, an assistant professor, two resident doctors and a nurse had been tested positive at the same hospital. According to health officers, over 30 health workers have been infected in the fight against the lethal virus. Officials said that at least six policemen have also been infected with the virus in different parts of the state.
Gujarat had recorded its first two cases on March 18. The list of infected persons till April 1 was merely 82. The data reveals that on April 7, total positive cases was 165, which in the past ten days rose to 1099.
Curfew in Jugleshwar area of Rajkot from Friday midnight
To take stock of the situation emerging out due to a sharp rise in transmission of pandemic ‘COVID-19’ in Jungleshwar area of Rajkot city, Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani had urgently held an important video-conference with Rajkot Collector, Municipal Commissioner, Police Commissioner, and In-charge Rahul Gupta, Friday.
The Gujarat government has decided to impose a curfew in Jugleshwar area of Rajkot city from Friday midnight to contain the spread of coronavirus, officials said.
Of the total 28 coronavirus positive cases reported in Rajkot so far, the majority of them are from this area, they said.
Though the lockdown is in place, authorities realised that it is not proving effective to stop people’s movement in that area, the officials said.
“Since people are still roaming outside in that area despite the lockdown, we have decided to impose a curfew from midnight in Jungleshwar area of Rajkot,” Secretary of the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Ashwani Kumar, said.
Rajkot is the third city that has imposed a curfew to contain the spread after Ahmedabad and Surat
As of now, no specific date for the termination of curfew has been announced.
Jungleshwar is spread over an area of 2.5 square km and it is home to 50,000 people, Gujarat DGP Shivanand Jha said.
A week-long curfew in five areas of Surat was imposed from Thursday midnight for the same reasons.
On April 15, a curfew till April 21 was imposed in the entire walled city as well as the Danilimda area of Ahmedabad city to contain the virus.
74 cases of curfew violation in Ahmedabad and 26 in Surat
Director-General of Police Shivanand Jha said that people are still roaming by giving silly excuses that is why curfew is being implemented in selected areas of Ahmedabad and Surat. Similarly, curfew will also be imposed in a 2.5 square kilometers of Jangleshwar area of Rajkot from Friday midnight. 3 teams of SRPF and police personnel have been allotted to Rajkot.
“While curfew is being implemented in Ahmedabad and Surat city, it has come to the notice that there is no social distancing maintained by women moving out to purchase essential things. Legal actions have been taken in such cases,” added Jha.
In Ahmedabad city, 82 people were arrested for 74 curfew violation cases and 26 people were arrested for 26 curfew violation cases in Surat. Curfew areas are constantly being monitored through drones and CCTV.
Detailing about the seized vehicles Jha said that 9,450 vehicles that were detained in connection with the lockdown breach have been released on Thursday while a total of 41,741 vehicles have been released across the state to date. Even if such vehicles are retraced, they will still be detained. Police still find passengers moving in essential vehicles. Yesterday, an Eicher was detained at Gondal police station. The vehicle was going to Madhya Pradesh with 47 people charging of Rs. 3,000 per person . Similarly in Patan district, a private ambulance was found carrying people from Ahmedabad.
CCTV footage of private societies in urban areas is also being observed in connection with the lockdown breach. 44 crimes were registered in Vadodara yesterday. 69 people were arrested for the same. Similarly, people are also monitored through drone, CCTV and ANPR.
Detaining on the Sura group other than the Tablighi jamaat Jha said that, 2 cases have been registered for lockdown breach. In which, one-one offense each has been registered at Patan and Vadodara. So far, eight such offences have been registered. Of these, three were reported at Gandhinagar, one each at Mehsana, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, and Patan.
Detailing on the law and order in the state Jha said that, 338 crimes were registered yesterday with the help of a drone and 51 crimes were registered yesterday with the help of CCTV. 25 offences have been registered for spreading rumors on social media.
Cases that have been registered so far which include 2,648 of the violation of lockdown 1,052 against violating home quarantine and 483 other cases. 2,943 vehicles have been seized and 41,741 vehicles have been released in the state, added Jha
Government offices to start with limited staff and adequate safety measures from April 20: CM
Based on the guidelines issued by the Government of India regarding re-starting government offices from Monday, April 20, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has decided to re-start government offices with limited staff and adequate safety measures.
Providing details about the decision of the CM, Secretary to the CM Ashwani Kumar said, “The government offices shall resume from April 20 based on the guidelines issued by GOI. However, government offices that fall in containment zones and hotspot areas shall not be allowed to operate. Moreover, employees residing in such areas have been provided temporary relief from their duty. The remaining departments and offices shall resume keeping in mind social distancing norms.”
Offices under the Department of Forests shall resume in addition to zoos, nursery Wildlife activities.
Officers belonging to Class-1 and Class-2 have to be present as directed by the heads of their respective departments. However, only 33% of employees belonging to the Class-3 category and below that shall be present in the offices.
Government departments can seek help from the local administration in sanitising the offices. All government employees shall wear a mask and every department shall have sanitisers in addition to proper facilities for washing hands. The employees entering and exiting the offices will undergo thermal scanning. Visitors are strictly prohibited from April 20 to May 3, 2020. Not more than 2-4 people will be allowed to use lifts at a given point in time. No more than 5 people shall be present at any given point of time for work in addition to ensuring a minimum distance of 6 feet between each other.
The Secretary further added, “The CM has also decided that the designated private hospitals shall provide free of cost COVID-19 treatment and related medicines. At present, there are 31 designated private hospitals.”
The state government has done a two-month agreement. However, the period may vary depending upon the requirement. District Collectors have been given the freedom to approve private COVID-19 designated hospitals in their respective areas which shall also provide free of cost treatment and related medicines.
All those patients who are discharged shall receive free of cost breakfast, meals and medicines for the next 5 days.
Blood samples of suspected COVID-19 cases shall be tested as per government protocol and the cost for the same shall be reimbursed by the government.
The state government shall provide PPE Kits, N-95 masks, triple-layer masks and HCQ tablets for the designated private hospitals.
The CM has also stated that the government shall provide Rs.25 lakhs in case of demise on duty due to COVID-19 of doctors, health workers and related staff of these designated hospitals.
Providing details of essential items, the Secretary said, “46.58 lakh liters of milk has been distributed. 92,350 quintals of vegetables and 11189 quintals of fruits are available.”
