E-Paper
In IIM Ahmedabad, Covid-19 cases touch 100 as Gujarat battles outbreak
Ahmedabad surpassed Surat with 613 cases, while Surat reported 464 cases during the last 24 hours. Vadodara followed with 292 cases and Rajkot with 179.
Nearly 96 people, including faculty members and students, have tested positive for Covid-19 at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad between March 12 to March 31, as the second wave of the virus has been averaging more than 2,000 people being infected in Gujarat each day during the last four days.
The state has reported more than 3 lakh cases so far with over 4,500 deaths. On Thursday evening, Gujarat reported a high of 2,410 cases, continuing the average of more than 2,200 cases, and nine deaths.
Ahmedabad surpassed Surat with 613 cases, while Surat reported 464 cases during the last 24 hours. Vadodara followed with 292 cases and Rajkot with 179. Gujarat has 12,996 active cases.
Dr Bharat Gadhvi, president of Ahmedabad Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, told Hindustan Times, “Over 55% of the 3,000 beds in designated Covid-19 hospitals in Ahmedabad are occupied.” He informed that, “Most cases are mild to moderate, though the spread is more intense than earlier.”
According to official data released by the IIM-A, RTPCR tests were conducted on 116 people during the two Holi days of whom 16 were found to be infected by the coronavirus. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s North-West Zone Health Officer Dr Mehul Acharya informed that as on March 31, 2021, as many as 96 people tested positive for the virus at the IIM-A during the last 15 days.
The data on the IIM-A dashboard states that between September 1, 2020, to March 27, 2021, there were 190 Covid-19 cases, 85 among them were students, four professors, 14 on-campus and 27 off-campus staff and 19 contractual employees. As many as 43 students have been quarantined.
Outgoing president of the Gujarat chapter of Indian Medical Association Dr Chandresh Jardosh told Hindustan Times that, “Unlike in the past, this wave is more intense and the spread is faster, though the mortality rate is much lower.”
He attributes the second wave in Gujarat to the recent elections where the political campaign “ignored all Covid-19 norms, while the people’s behaviour has also been as though the virus had gone. The people and the politicians are collectively responsible.”
Dr Jardosh wondered that, “As many as 40% of our vaccines were exported while countries like the US and UK have not sent out a single dose. The so-called vaccine diplomacy is hurting our own people.” He is of the view that there is a need for mass vaccination, instead of in instalments “and there should be mass production. Everyone over 18 years of age should be vaccinated.”
