COVID-19: Positive cases rise to 63; Fifth death reported

The total number of positive cases of coronavirus increased to 63 in Gujarat by Sunday evening, forcing the government to take more actions to contain the spread of the virus by narrowing down to clusters and hotspots from where cases were detected. Officials said that 800 people, who were direct or immediate contact of the persons infected with the virus, are being closely monitored to control the spread.

Updating the status of the spread of the virus, Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi said Sunday evening that eight new positive cases were detected in the state, taking the figure to 63. Ahmedabad remains at the top of the chart where 22 cases have been detected, while three of them passed away. State capital Gandhinagar, Vadodara and Rajkot have detected nine cases each while Surat recorded eight cases. In all, the virus has spread in ten districts of the state that included coastal towns of Gir-Somnath and Porbandar. So far, the state government has tested 1202 samples.

"To contain the virus we are mapping all the places in clusters to contain the spread. Within 3 km of the of infected place we are creating zones and buffer zones in 5 km stretch and watertight the lockdown protocol. We are trying to contain the spread within these limits," Ravi told reporters in Gandhinagar. She added that house-to-house surveillance and random checking are being done to ensure complete lockdown and to find out the all the suspected persons who might have got infected or came in touch with the infected persons.

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The good news, she added, was the recovery of a 34-year-old female who was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after her report was found negative twice in the past 24 hours. Ravi told reporters that "So far, our progress in containing the virus has been satisfactory compare to countries like Italy. The coming two weeks are going to be very crucial and complete lockdown will help to control the spread of the virus."

Earlier in the day, state recorded the death of fifth COVID-19 patient after a 47-year-old passed away at civil hospital in Ahmedabad. Officials said that the patient, said to be a labourer, was admitted to the hospital on 27th March after complaints of fever, common cold and breathlessness. He was diabetic for the past 15 years and was working as a labourer. His source of infection hasn't been known as yet.