With 176 More Novel Coronavirus Cases, Gujarat’s Covid-19 Tally Rises To 1,275

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Gujarat increased to 1,275 on Saturday (18 April), after the state witnessed 176 new infections, the highest jump in 12 hours.

Till Friday evening, there were 1,099 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state.

Of the 176 positive new cases, Ahmedabad reported 143; Surat 13; Vadodara 13; Rajkot and Bhavnagar two each; and Anand Bharuch and Panchmahals one each.

Now inching towards the thousand mark with a total 143 positive cases found on Saturday morning, Ahmedabad continued to lead the state in terms of infections at 765, followed by Surat 156, Vadodara 152, Rajkot 30, Bhavnagar 28, Anand 27, Bharuch 22, Gandhinagar 17, Patan 15, Narmada 11, Banaskantha 9, Panchmahals 8, Chotta Udepur 6, Kutch, Botad and Mehsana with 4 each, Porbandar, Kheda and Dahod with 3 each, Gir-Somnath 2 and Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha, Mahisagar and Aravalli with one each.

"Out of the total 1,136 active cases, the condition of 1,129 is stable while seven still are on ventilator, their condition being critical," said Jayanti Ravi, the principal secretary, Health and family welfare Department, Gujarat.

There were seven new COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, taking the total toll to 48.
Of the seven, four were female victims with comorbid conditions like hypertension, kidney as well as mental ailments.

Of the 48 deaths, 25 were reported in Ahmedabad, followed by 7 in Vadodara, 6 in Surat and 3 in Bhavnagar.

Two patients after treatment were discharged on Friday (17 April). A total of 88 positive patients have been discharged so far after treatment.

"In the last 24 hours, the health authorities have taken 2,802 samples for the testing, where 251 have been found positive, 2,551 negative. The total number of test carried out by the health department till now is 24,614 out of which 1,275 are positive, 24,342 negative," added Ravi.

The total number of quarantined in the state is 16,925, where 14,471 are home quarantined, 2,266 in government facilities and 188 in private facilities.

Meanwhile, the first batch of Rapid Antibody Testing (RAT) kits requested by the Gujarat government from the Centre, has arrived in the state.

"The experts are calibrating the RAT kits as it''s consistencies needs to be checked out. Once they are done with it, we will be having a massive training for the health workers, ASHA workers for the use of these kits through SATCOM. From tomorrow onwards it''s utilisation will be carried out in districts across the state," added Ravi.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)