Ahmedabad reports 50 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths

Ahmedabad, Apr 21 () Even as the number of COVID-19cases in Ahmedabad in Gujarat rose by 50 to 1,284 on Tuesday,civic chief Vijay Nehra has hoped that the infection will bebrought under control by May.

He appealed to people to strictly follow the lockdownguidelines to defeat the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, Ahmedabad reported five more deaths due toCOVID-19 disease, taking the overall number of fatalities sofar to 42.

"As we move forward, confidence of our teams is slowlyincreasing as we are able to detect the maximum number ofcases. We are collecting the maximum number of samples fortesting and are thus achieving a high testing rate. We haveput in place everything required for the treatment of COVID-19cases," Nehra said.

We can now say that if we get people's support, weshall be able to bring the virus almost under total control bythe month of May, he said in Facebook Live.

"To achieve this, people will have to follow lockdownrules completely till May 3," he said, adding that the synergyof discipline and organisational strength will help indefeating the virus.

The sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Ahmedabad over thepast few days was attributed by the municipal corporation tothe active surveillance by health teams.

"More than 15,000 samples have been tested-- 1,939through passive surveillance and 13,145 via activesurveillance--in the city so far and 5,500 people arecurrently under quarantine," Nehra said.

He said the civic-run SVP Hospital in the city hassuccessfully conducted Cesarean section (CS) operation on a30-year-old pregnant coronavirus patient, which he said wasthe first such case in Gujarat and seventh in the country.

He said the newborn will be tested for coronavirusafter 24 hours.

Listing various measures to help people, Nehra saidthe civic body and the state Health department are takingsteps to augment the number of beds in hospitals in Ahmedabad.

The number of beds in SVP Hospital has been increasedfrom 500 to 1,000 starting Tuesday, so as to lessen the burdenon the district civil hospital, he said.

He said 51 patients have been discharged so far fromhospitals in Ahmedabad after their recovery from the COVID-19disease.

"One of them who was discharged on Tuesday wassuffering from several comorbidities like diabetes andhypertension, and was on a ventilator support for ten days,"Nehra said.

He said the civic body has signed an MoU with a 5-starhotel to convert it into a COVID care centre for asymptomaticpatients at the charges lower than the market rates, whichwill be fixed by the civic body. KA PDNSK NSK