While the state reels under the migrant worker issue and fresh curfew-like situations in several cities, the COVID-19 death toll in Gujarat crossed 400-mark on Thursday with fresh 29 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 425. The rising number has kept Gujarat in the second position among worst-affected states.
Principal secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi said state also reported 387 new positive cases since Wednesday evening, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 7,012, second highest in the country after Maharashtra.
By Thursday, Ravi said, the state had tested 1,00,553 samples. She said that 209 patients were also discharged from various hospitals that mounted the number of total cured persons to 1709. Ahmedabad with 4,991 confirmed cases and 321 deaths is the worst affected city in the state.
Ravi said there is no need to panic as the number of deaths is increasing mainly because of co-morbidity in the patients who were also infected with the virus. She said panic will only lead to the weakening of immunity.
However, the increasing number of deaths, with a mortality rate of over 6%, has made the state government worried and has compelled it to devise new strategies.
Meanwhile, thousands of workers in Surat hit streets on Thursday again while another group clashed with police in Vapi town. In the past three days, at least 300 workers have been apprehended for violent agitation.
The Vijay Rupani led state government has sought central's intervention in containing the deadly virus which has infected 32 of 33 districts. The chief minister also brought senior IAS officers and changed commissioner of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, apparently after he met people who tested positive.
The new commissioner Mukesh Kumar has brought stringent lockdown rules in Ahmedabad and placed the city under curfew-like situation till May 15 in order to control the spread. Surat municipal corporation is also following the suit. The government has deployed paramilitary forces in these two cities and shut down all shops except milk and medicine stores for the coming week.
The condition of migrant workers has also created chaos in Ahmedabad and Surat with violent protests demanding permission to travel back home. Thousands of workers in Surat hit streets against on Thursday again while another group clashed with police in neighbouring Vapi town. In the last three days, at least 300 workers have been apprehended for violent agitation.
The state government, on the other hand, claimed that in the past five days over 1.25 lakh migrant labourers were sent to their native states like Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand in as many as 67 special trains.