Gujarat: 22 new deaths raise toll to 236; plans afoot to return migrants

Twenty-two people died of Covid-19 and 326 more cases were reported in Gujarat on Friday, as the government of chief minister Vijay Rupani came to grips with the task of sending home migrant workers stranded in the state.

The new deaths and cases took to 236 the number of fatalities claimed by the coronavirus disease and 4,721 the number to have tested positive for Covid-19 in Gujarat to date. Ahmedabad, the principal city of Gujarat, bore the brunt, reporting 267 new cases.

Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health), said 26 new cases were reported from Surat, 19 from Vadodara and the remaining from other districts. On Friday, the worst five affected districts of were Ahmedabad (3293 total cases), Surat (640), Vadodra (308), Rajkot (58) and Bhavnagar (47).

“The health staff in Gujarat is on their toes 24x7 to cure Covid-19 patients, especially those with co-morbid conditions. In such a scenario, the health experts are provided online guidance to treat crucially ill patients. Around 24 children, three pregnant women and 68 senior citizens who were critically ill due to Covid-19 have availed of the benefits of tele mentoring program and recovered successfully,” Ravi said.

With 49 positive cases reported from Gandhinagar and 21 from Botad, chief minister Rupani appointed two senior civil servants to supervise measures being taken for curbing the transmission of the virus in the two districts and guide their administrations.Rajeevkumar Gupta, additional chief secretary (forest and environment), and Sanjeev Kumar, managing director, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, have been appointed to oversee Gandhinagar and Botad, respectively, said a government statement.

Ashwani Kumar, secretary to the CM, said the process of sending back stranded labourers from other states had started with launch of a helpline number --- 1070. “The stranded people are required to file an online application on Digital Gujarat Portal,” he said.

“The CM has made it clear that only asymptomatic people will be allowed to enter the state. All those with cough, fever, cold and other such symptoms will not be permitted to enter Gujarat. Similarly, all those who are completely healthy will be allowed to return to their home state from Gujarat,” Kumar said.

He added that all the migrants wishing to return home from Gujarat will undergo a medical examination and those who are healthy will be provided a certificate to that effect. The CM directed district collectors to use primary and community health centres for conducting the medical examinations.