Ahmedabad:New COVID-19 cases drop to 156 in one-day,toll 1,501

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Ahmedabad, July 8 () Ahmedabad on Wednesday reported 156 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest rise in the last five days, taking the total count to 22,418, state Health department said.

With five more patients succumbing to the viral infection, the death toll in the district has crossed the 1,500-mark and reached 1,501, it said.

A total of 170 patients were discharged from hospitals in the day, taking the number of recovered cases in the district to 17,363.

Of the 156 new cases, 149 cases were reported from the limits of the Ahmedabad municipal corporation and rest 7 from rural areas, the department said.

At 156, it is the lowest one-day rise in the number of cases in the last five days. The district had reported 204 cases on July 3, 172 cases on July 4, 177 on July 5, 183 on July 6 and 187 on July 7. The city had reported as many as 350 cases in one-day earlier.

Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has started screening "super spreaders" across 48 wards in the city to contain the spread of coronavirus.

During a similar drive conducted in May, the civic body had screened over 33,000 "super spreaders" and found 700 of them positive for the deadly infection.

The AMC had categorised vegetable vendors, grocery and milk shop owners, petrol pump attendants and garbage collectors as "super spreaders", as the nature of their work puts them at risk of contracting and spreading the infection.

"Starting Wednesday, we formed 48 teams, one team for each ward of the city, to screen potential super spreaders," the AMC's health department said in a release.

The civic body has added street food vendors, paan shop owners and salon owners and employees to its list of "super spreaders", the notice stated. KA PD ARU NSK NSK