Gujarat chief secretary down with Covid, daily cases top 150

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat chief secretary Pankaj Kumar has tested positive for Covid-19 amid a surge in infections in the state. He is the first high-profile person from the state government to contract the virus after the third wave.
"The chief secretary was scheduled to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's events on Friday. However, he tested positive a day prior. He had mild fever and other symptoms, and thus he opted for Covid test which turned out to be positive. He immediately informed government officials about it," said sources.
On Saturday, the state recorded 154 new Covid cases, the highest in the past 102 days. Out of total, 80 were in Ahmedabad city and 5 in Gandhinagar city.
Cases in city almost double in 5 days
From 206 active Covid cases on Monday, the number reached 398 on Saturday, almost doubling the cases in five days. The active cases in Gujarat also got doubled in five days from 344 to 704. On Saturday, Ahmedabad recorded 80 new Covid cases, the second consecutive day of 80 or more cases. Gujarat crossed 150 daily cases at 154. It was the highest daily tally for the state in 102 days.
The other cases included 22 from Vadodara city, 12 from Surat city, 11 from Vadodara, 5 from Gandhinagar city, 4 from Rajkot city, 3 from Mehsana, Surat and Valsad districts among others. Out of 33 districts of Gujarat, only 10 now have zero active cases.
Gujarat in 24 hours vaccinated 1,265 persons for the first dose and 19,375 for the second. In all, 5.4 crore are administered first and 5.29 crore second dose of Covid vaccine. The state administered booster doses to 22,493 persons, taking total to 36.01 lakh.