Bopal emerging as new Covid hotspot near Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Of the 153 Covid cases registered so far in Daskroi taluka, nearly 45% of the cases have been recorded in Bopal. The Bopal-Ghuma nagarpalika falls within the taluka. Over the past week, the nagarpalika has reported 27 cases. From March 17 to May 10, the nagarpalika had reported only 39 cases. The nagarpalika shares a boundary with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
Officials are uncertain about the source of infection in at least 25% of the cases reported within the past week in the nagarpalika.
For instance, a couple from Aarohi Crest in Bopal has been working from home and has not gone out of the area. In Aarohi Twin Bungalows, the only person who tested positive had not ventured out of the society.
Officials said that the problem stems from vegetable and fruit vendors of the area, whose health is not monitored. Small tempos drive to the nagarpalika daily from villages of Dholka and Sanand. These vendors do not have health cards. Moreover, vendors based in the area have had no recent health check-ups.
Recently, an elderly woman and her daughter-in-law tested positive, possibly after coming in contact with a vegetable vendor. Then a woman from Iskcon Platinum was infected and officials suspected a similar source. A couple from Aarohi Elysium has tested positive; the contact history has not been declared yet.
Arun Mahesh Babu, the district development officer of Ahmedabad, said that with restrictions easing, people are being careless. Babu said people aren’t taking precautions when meeting vendors or neighbours. “We can say for sure that the cases in Bopal and Ahmedabad have been spurred by local transmission,” Babu said. “Community transmission has not yet begun.”
Bopal-Ghuma nagarpalika president Jigisha Shah said that strict surveillance has been launched in the area.
‘Testing highest in Ahmedabad district’
District development officer of Ahmedabad Arun Mahesh Babu said that Ahmedabad district records the highest number of tests. On average, the district conducts 800 to 1,000 tests, he said. “We have increased testing and hence there has been a rise in the number of cases in the district.” The district is not carrying out contact tracing but is determining movement through the Aarogya Setu app.