116 new coronavirus cases found in Guj, total jumps to 378

The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 378 after 116 new cases were reported since Thursday night, a senior health official said on Friday. The increase in cases during 24 hours is the highest so far.

With two more deaths reported during this period, the death toll due to coronavirus reached 19, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi. Of 116 cases, 55 were reported in Ahmedabad and 37 in Vadodara. The total number of cases found in Ahmedabad is now 197.

Most of the new cases came from areas which have already been declared as hotspots, such as Bapunagar, Shah-e-Alam, Dudheshwar, Kalupur, Manekchawk and Juhapura, Ravi said. The spurt in the numbers was the result of aggressive testing and therefore people need not panic, she added.

During the day, seven cases emerged from a single cluster in Amod tehsil of Bharuch district. Police probe revealed that four of them are religious preachers from Tamil Nadu amd attached to a sub-sect of the Tablighi Jamaat.

During the day, new cases were also found in Surat (3), Rajkot (5), Bhavnagar (4), two each in Patan and Kutch while one case was reported in Gandhinagar, said Ravi. Those who tested positive on Friday included a doctor in Ahmedabad who was engaged in collection of coronavirus samples, the official said.

Of 37 cases reported in Vadodara during the day, at least 17 came from Nagarwada area of old Vadodara city, taking the total number of cases in Vadodara to 59.

IAS officer Vinod Rao, primary education secretary, has been camping in Vadodara to oversee the screening and testing operation there. Cases were rising because of proactive testing and surveying, he said.

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"The entire Nagarwada area, with a population of 5,000, has been already sealed and declared as red zone. Cases are rising because of our targeted efforts and mass screening in that area," said Rao, in-charge secretary of Vadodara.

Out of total 378 cases reported so far, Ahmedabad recorded the highest 197 cases, followed by Vadodara (59), Surat (27), Bhavnagar (22), Rajkot(18), 14 each in Gandhinagar and Patan, Bharuch (7), Kutch (4), Porbandar (3), two each in Mehsana, Gir-Somnath, Chhotaudepur, and Anand and one each in Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod.

"We tested 1,519 samples since Thursday night and found 116 samples positive. Till now, 7,718 persons have been tested in Gujarat, out of whom 378 came out positive for virus," said Ravi.

As a precautionary measure, health department will conduct 100 tests in the districts where no case has surfaced yet, she told reporters. With two more deaths, the death toll due to the deadly infection in Gujarat has gone up to 19.

A 40-year-old man from Ahmedabad and an 81-year-old man from Gandhinagar died on Friday. While the Ahmedabad patient was suffering from a kidney ailment and breathed his last at Ahmedabad civil hospital, the Gandhinagar resident, who contracted the virus from a close contact, died at Gandhinagar civil hospital.

In good news, seven persons recovered and were discharged , taking the number of those who recovered to 33, Ravi said.

Of 19 persons who have succumbed to coronavirus in the state so far, seven died in Ahmedabad, followed by Surat (4), two each in Vadodara and Bhavnagar, and one each in Gandhinagar, Panchmahal, Patan and Jamnagar.

Three of them had returned from a foreign country, three had travelled to another state and 13 had come in contact with other local patients, said Ravi.

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