Surat peaks, accounts for 32% of July cases

This month saw the State touch a new peak on 12 out of 13 days. Alongside, it also saw Surat replace Ahmedabad as the worst-hit district in terms of emergence of new Covid-19 cases. On Monday, Gujarat crossed the daily mark of 900, reporting 902 cases. Of these, the maximum number of cases was in Surat which saw 287 cases, its highest so far. The tally in the state reached 42,808 cases in Gujarat on Monday.

In what is clearly the ‘fastest 10,000’ for Gujarat, the State’s tally for just 13 days of July stands at 10,165. Here too, Surat accounts for the biggest share of 3,286 (32.3%) cases, surpassing Ahmedabad’s count of 2,346 cases this month. Surat's daily count first went higher than that of Ahmedabad on June 30 when the former reported 199 cases and the latter 197.

Barring July 1, when Ahmedabad was at the top again, and July 3 when both had the same number of cases, Surat has reported the highest cases daily. On Monday, 10 patients succumbed to the infection across Gujarat. The death toll in Gujarat is now at 2,057.

Sudden spike in Amreli Amreli, which was among the last districts to get a Covid-19 case in Gujarat, saw a sudden spike of 29 cases on Monday after just 16 on Sunday. Amreli Collector Ayush Oak said, “Over the weekend several people came to Amreli from Surat. Hence, there has been a rise in cases. Of the 29 cases, 21 either came from Surat or were related to such persons.”

12 new micro-containment areas in A’bad

The AMC on Monday identified 12 more spots to the list of micro-containment areas and removed 6 from the existing list. Three of these are in north-west zone, two each in southwest, west, south, east and one in centra zone. With this, the total number of areas in micro-containment has reached 195. The new list includes 4 and 5 floors of B block and 1-5 floors of D block of Silver Pearl; 1-3 floors of D block and 3-7 floors of C block of Sthapatya Heights, both in Gota; house numbers 43-50 of Gayatri Tenements in Ghatlodia; A block of Anmol Bungalows and C block, Dev Darshan Bungalows in New Ranip; 32-34 of B wing of Desai Park and Aatish Society in Vejalpur.


Home minister Amit Shah reviews G’nagar situation

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday held a video conference with officials in Gandhinagar to check on the Covid-19 situation and overall development projects in his Lok Sabha constituency, said Collector Kuldeep Arya. Meanwhile, the district administration has formed 450 teams to monitor Covid-19 infection in Gandhinagar. They purchased about 200 oxymeters and distributed them among the 30 PHCs and field teams for surveillance.


Minister’s son positive

Four days after the State’s MoS for Forest and Tribal Development Ramanlal Patkar tested positive for Covid, his son Vijay Patkar tested positive for the infection on Monday. The minister is currently undergoing treatment at UN Mehta Hospital in Ahmedabad. Jignesh Patel, chairman of recreation committee of AMC, too tested positive during the day.


Surat’s textile traders go for odd-even plan

Textile traders’ association in Surat has decided to have an odd-even arrangement of work for at least the next two weeks starting Monday. “On the first day, just 35% of traders opened shops. This system will continue,” said Champalal Bothra, head of Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA). Also, the shops will be open only from 10 am to 5 pm.


With 17 +ve cases, HC to hear only urgent matters

The Gujarat HC has decided to take only extremely urgent matters from Tuesday, with total 17 persons working at the court testing positive for Covid-19. The order for listing of matters will be in effect from Wednesday to Friday, a court circular stated.

(INPUTS FROM LAKSHMI PATEL, NISCHAL SANGHAVI, NIKUNJ SONI)