The number of coronavirus positive patients in Gujarat has gone up to 308 following the detection of 46 new cases, one of them a doctor, while the death toll increased to 19, officials said on Friday.
With two more deaths reported during the last 12 hours, the toll due to coronavirus in Gujarat has reached 19, they said.
Out of the 46 new cases reported during the period, 17 were from the Nagarwada area of Vadodara city, followed by Ahmedabad (11), Rajkot (5), Bharuch (4), Bhavnagar (4), two each from Patan and Kutch, while one case was reported from Gandhinagar, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.
Those who died during the last 12 hours were a 40- year-old man from Ahmedabad and an 81-year-old man from Gandhinagar, said Ravi.
While the patient from Ahmedabad was suffering from a kidney ailment and died at Ahmedabad civil hospital, the elderly man, who contracted the virus from a close contact, died in Gandhinagar civil hospital, she said.
Those who tested positive included a doctor from Ahmedabad who was engaged in collection of samples for coronavirus testing, she told reporters in Gandhinagar.
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All the four new cases in Bharuch were from Amod taluka, where the police have been roped in to find out their travel history and possible source of infection, she said.
After the detection of 17 new cases in Nagarwada, the count of COVID-19 patients in Vadodara gone up to to 39.
IAS officer Vinod Rao, who serves as primary education secretary and is posted in Gandhinagar, has been camping in Vadodara to oversee the screening and testing operation.
He said coronavirus cases are rising because of a proactive approach by the administration.
"The entire Nagarwada, having a population of 5,000, has been already sealed and declared a red zone. Out of 400 samples collected from the area, 30 came positive during the last two-three days, taking the total to 39.
"This (rise in cases) happened because of our targeted effort and mass screening in the area. We suspect situation may escalate in future," said Rao, in-charge secretary of Vadodara.
Out of the total 308 cases reported so far, Ahmedabad has recorded the highest - 153 - followed by Vadodara (39), Surat (24), Bhavnagar (22), Rajkot(18), 14 each in Gandhinagar and Patan, Bharuch (4), Kutch (4), Porbandar (3), two each in Mehsana, Gir-Somnath, Chhotaudepur, and Anand; and one each in Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod.
Also, since Thursday, four more persons were discharged from hospitals following their recovery from the disease, taking the number of such cases to 30 till date, said Ravi.