Three more coronavirus cases in Gujarat, count rises to five

Three more coronavirus cases came to light in Gujarat on Friday, taking the number of Covid-19 patients in the state to five, an official said.

A man from Vadodara and two women from Ahmedabad tested positive on Friday and all of them had returned from abroad, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi. The 49-year-old Vadodara resident had returned from Spain. Of the two women, one, who is 34, had visited Finland while the other, who is 21, had returned from the United States.

On Thursday, a man in Rajkot and a woman in Surat were found to have contracted the disease, becoming the first confirmed coronavirus patients in Gujarat. "All the five patients are being treated as per the protocol and they are stable. We have also started identifying the people who came in contact with these patients so that we can put them in quarantine facilities," the official said.

"People should inform us if they come to know about a foreign-returned person evading compulsory home quarantine. Such persons mingling with the public can prove harmful," she told reporters. The state government has already ordered the closure of gyms, water parks and `party plots' which are rented for weddings and other functions, she said.

"From tomorrow, we will start stamping the hands of suspected coronavirus patients who arrive at international airports in Ahmedabad and Surat. The government had earlier thought of making such people wear wrist bands, but we realized that stamps are better option," Ravi added.

She also urged people to call 104 `fever helpline' if they spot anybody with such a stamp on the hand roaming outside. Of the 150 samples collected for testing so far in the state, five came out positive, 123 were negative while the results of 22 are pending, the official said.

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