AHMEDABAD: In the 24 hours ending 5pm on Saturday, Gujarat breached the 1,500 Covid-19 cases in a day for the first time, reporting 1,515 cases. Ahmedabad city and district also reported their highest one-day tallies of new cases, at 354 and 373, respectively.
Five Covid patients also died in this period, the most for 85 days. Across the state, nine patients died, which last occurred 31 days ago. The surge in new cases continued in Ahmedabad city, which accounted for 22% of new Covid-19 cases in Gujarat on November 20 and 21, and occupancy of Covid beds remained high.
According to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) update on social media, as of 7pm on Saturday, 558 Covid beds in the AMC quota and 239 beds in the private quota were vacant.
According to the Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNA) website, as of 9.30am on Saturday, 91% of their 2,658 Covid beds were occupied. Of the ICU beds in the non-requisitioned (where private hospitals can admit patients at their discretion) category, 16 were available with ventilators and 19 without ventilators.
At government hospitals, bed occupancy is fast rising. At the Asarwa Civil Hospital campus, after earmarking beds at GCRI and IKDRC, UNMICRC was once again taken under the umbrella for Covid-19 patients. “Ventilators are available in good number at the 1,200-bed hospital. However, based on our experience, oxygen is the best medicine for a large number of patients. Thus, those needing high-flow oxygen and BiPAP are shifted to other hospitals on the campus,” said a senior Civil Hospital official.
The other four major cities of Gujarat also reported record high numbers of new cases. While Surat recorded 211, its highest for 112 days, Vadodara’s daily count of 125 was its highest for five months. Together, the eight municipal corporations in the state accounted for 58% of the day’s new cases.
Gujarat carried out 70,388 tests, its highest number for 65 days. “Queues outside testing kiosks revealed a high number of infections in several areas. The post-Diwali surge in the city may continue for a few more days,” said a city-based epidemiologist.