Four new COVID-19 cases in Gujarat; state tally 179

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Ahmedabad, Apr 8 () The number of coronavirus casesin Gujarat rose to 179 on Wednesday with four more peoplecontracting the disease, a health department official said.

Out of the four new cases, two were reported fromBhavnagar and one each from Surat and Vadodara, PrincipalSecretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.

District-wise, 83 out of the total 179 coronaviruscases have been reported from Ahmedabad, 23 from Surat, 16from Bhavnagar, 13 each from Vadodara and Gandhinagar, 11 fromRajkot, five from Patan, three from Porbandar, two each fromKutch, Mehsana and Gir Somnath, and one each from Panchmahal,Chhota Udepur, Jamnagar, Morbi, Anand, and Sabarkantha.

So far, 16 people have died and 25 discharged afterrecovery, she said.

Ahmedabad has till now reported five deaths, followedby Surat-four, Vadodara and Bhavnagar-two each, andPanchmahal, Patan and Jamnagar- one each.

A 14-month-old child, who died in Jamnagar on Tuesday,was the youngest victim of the deadly virus in Gujarat.

Out of the total cases, 114 cases are locallytransmitted, 33 are of patients with the foreign travelhistory and 32 with inter-state travel history, the healthdepartment in a release.

Out of 138 active cases, two patients are onventilator support and their condition is critical, it said,adding that 136 others are stable.

Forty eight locations in five cities - 32 inAhmedabad, seven in Rajkot, five in Bhavnagar, and two each inSurat and Vadodara - covering a population of 1.55 lakh havebeen brought under the state government's cluster containmentplan, where measures like imposing complete lockdown andintensive screening of suspected cases have been taken.

Ravi said the state health department has increasedtesting of samples of suspected cases form these areas on alarge scale.

"It is a conscious decision to carry out intensivetesting in cluster areas. We have carried out 932 tests in thelast 24 hours, of which 14 have come out positive while theresults of 231 are expected today," she said. KA PDGK GK