COVID-19: Ahmedabad district worst hit in Gujarat with 1,101 cases

Ahmedabad has emerged as the worst-hit district in Gujarat in terms of coronavirus infection with as many as 239 positive cases found on Sunday alone, taking the district tally to 1,101, officials said. The death toll also went up to 32 on Sunday with seven more persons succumbing to the infection, officials said.

Of the total, as many as 1,077 cases were detected in Ahmedabad city alone, making it one of the COVID-19 hotspot cities in the country. The officials, however, attributed this sharp rise in positive cases to the "proactive intensive surveillance and aggressive testing" conducted by health teams, mainly in the hotspot areas.

Out of the total 1,743 cases in Gujarat, Ahmedabad alone accounts for 1,101 cases, the highest in the state, followed by Surat and Vadodara at 242 and 180 cases, the health department said Sunday. On last Sunday the district had reported 282 positive cases, which went up to 1,101 cases within a week.

"Proactive intensive surveillance and aggressive testing approach have led to a rise in the number of coronavirus positive cases in Ahmedabad city limit area," Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra said on Sunday. He said that while the number of COVID-19 cases in the city has surged over the past few days due to active surveillance, most of the cases are being reported form hotspot areas.

The city also reported death of seven more COVID-19 patients on Sunday, taking the death toll in the city to 32, the officials said. Around 14,000 samples have been tested so far in the Ahmedabad city, which has a total population of around 80 lakh. Majority of the samples are being collected and the cases being detected being are from hotspot areas, he said.

"We have adopted a strategy of proactive intensive surveillance and aggressive testing, which will help us in controlling the infection in the coming days, and there is no need to worry about the rising number of cases in the city, Nehra said.

"Our health teams are conducting health check-up in cluster areas, screening people, and sending samples of suspected cases for testing. This helps us detect asymptomatic cases through active surveillance, and reduce chances of spread of infection," he added.

Ahmedabad has so far tested 14,000 samples, with the city recording an average of 2,490 tests per million, two-and-a-half times more than Delhi, which has conducted 1,103 tests per million, officials said.

"Risk factor, surveillance strategy and testing approach decide the number of cases. We are proactive and aggressive regarding surveillance and testing," Nehra said. Around 70 per cent of the positive cases reported in Ahmedabad city are due to the "active surveillance" strategy adopted by the AMC, he said, adding that other cities and states will have to follow to contain the virus.