Gujarat on Saturday recorded 44 new cases, out of which one was confirmed to be infected by the Omicron variant. The new addition takes the state’s active case tally to 326. The state had recorded 45 cases on Friday.
Yet again, Ahmedabad’s share of cases was highest, with the corporation recording 12 cases, followed closely by Bhavnagar Corporation which logged 11 cases. There were no casualties today, giving the state a respite of two days after having registered one death each on Wednesday and Thursday, this week. The deaths were recorded in Rajkot district and Anand city.
Ahmedabad had 15 cases yesterday and no deaths.
After the confirmation of one Covid-19 case of Omicron variant, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel called an urgent meeting of the health department to review Gujarat’s preparedness.
At the meeting attended by State Health Minister Hrishikesh Patel and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi, the chief minister stressed stepping up 3 Ts (tracing, testing and treatment). He also appealed to the people to strictly follow all Covid-19 protocols, including social distancing, wearing masks and sanitisation.
Chief Principal Secretary to the CM, K. Kailashnathan, Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar and ACS (Health) Manoj Aggarwal were present at the meeting.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Gujarat has recorded 8.27 lakh cases and 10,094 deaths. This is as per the official figures. Experts estimate the original figure might be three times higher than what is on paper.
Dr Bharat Gadhvi, president of AHNA, said, “Now is the time to get our acts straight. The lethargy needs to go away and we should be always on our guard. Testing and tracing have to be ramped up immediately. The officials need to ensure that citizens follow Covid-appropriate behaviour at all times.”
