The number of coronavirus
cases in Ahmedabad city rose to 1,168 on Monday after 91 more people tested positive for the infection, an official said.
Three more COVID-19 patients died, taking the death toll in the city to 34, Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra said.
He said the sudden rise in number of coronavirus cases was due to aggressive testing through active surveillance.
Out of 91 fresh cases, 61 were reported from the city's central zone, 13 from south zone, he said.
Nehra said 14,503 samples have so far been tested in the city, out of which 12,675 have been tested as part of the active surveillance drive.
Five more patients have been discharged, taking the number of those who recovered in the city rose to 35, he said, adding that the number of such people will increase from April 23-24 after most of them will complete their 14-day treatment.
The city health teams also conducted 264 tests using rapid testing kits, out of which the antibody tests of eight came out positive, the official said.
"We managed around 6,000 people who came to Ahmedabad from abroad last month till March 22 to contain any spread of coronavirus from them. Some people came from other states, including Indore, and several people came from Nizamuddin (Tablighi Jamaat event) in Delhi, which caused the spread of infection," Nehra said.
Most of the these infections spread in east Ahmedabad, especially in the walled city areas, where the civic body is carrying out intensive surveillance and aggressive testing to fight the coronavirus.
"Our strategy is to detect, isolate and treat the patiets. The sudden spike in the number of cases is because we are able to find more number of cases through active surveillance. We have found more than 900 cases proactively," the civic commissioner said, and urged people to continue to follow the rules even after the lockdown is lifted.
He said the civic body is also trying to find "super spreaders" of coronavirus.
"A super spreader could be a shop owner, sanitation workers, vegetable vendor, water collector, who come in contact with several persons. Such a person can spread the disease to more number of people. We have taken up a campaign for screening, testing, and infection management of such super spreaders," he said.
Three private hospitals have also been allowed to treat coronavirus patients, he added.
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