The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat hit a new high on Saturday morning with detection of 176 new cases, the biggest ever spike since last evening updates. The new cases swelled the total COVID-19 cases in the state to 1,272. Besides, the state also recorded seven deaths of COVID-19 patients in the same time period, which is also the highest number of deaths, taking the toll to 48.
Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi said that majority of the new cases are being reported from the hotspot areas in Ahmedabad, which alone registered 143 cases, that has spiked the total figure of the city to 765 cases. It includes 25 deaths and 24 patients getting discharged. Other cities such as Vadodara and Surat reported 13 cases each.
She said that the number of cases is rising with intense testing undertaken by the government. The data reveals that in the past 24 hours, 2,802 samples were examined out of which 251 were found positive, which is almost 9% of total samples. Until today, the state has tested 24,614 samples out of which 1,272 cases tested positive which is nearly 5% that is said to be close to the national average.
Ravi said that among the seven dead, six are women who were aged between 36 years old and 72 years old. The first case of COVID-19 in Aravalli district, a 70 years old woman from a farmer family succumbed to the virus at UN Mehta hospital in Ahmedabad. Ravi said that woman had heart ailments. The only male patient, who died in Vadodara, didn't have any medical history.
Apart from major cities, the infection of the virus is also being reported from villages of the state. In Banaskantha district, north Gujarat, eight persons have been found positive and the source of their infection has been traced. District Collector Sandip Sangle said that all cases are interlinked and five surrounding villages have been put under cluster quarantined that include buffer zones.