The count of coronavirus cases in Gujarat shot up to 2,178 on Tuesday with 239 new cases reported, most of them from Ahmedabad, while the death toll went up to 90 after the addition of 19 fatalities, a health department official said.
Also, for the first time in Gujarat, two COVID-19 patients are being treated using plasma therapy.
Ahmedabad reported the maximum 130 new cases, followed by Surat at 78, Vadodara six, Aravalli and Banaskantha five each, Valsad three, Botad and Rajkot two each, and Bharuch, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Dahod, Navsari, Gir Somnath, Kheda and Tapi one each, the official said.
After the fresh infections, the number of coronavirus positive cases in Ahmedabad, the worst-hit city in Gujarat, went up to 1,378, while in Surat it rose to 347.
Eight COVID-19 patients were also discharged on Tuesday after recovering from the disease, taking the number of such cases to 139, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.
Three patients were discharged from Ahmedabad, two from Mehsana, and one each from Kutch, Anand and Gir Somnath districts, Ravi said.
Out of the 19 patients who died on Tuesday, 12 suffered from co-morbid conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, hypertension, and diabetes, she said.
Fifteen of these 19 patients died in Ahmedabad, two in Surat, and one each in Bhavnagar and Bharuch.
Ahmedabad has so far reported the death of 53 COVID-19 patients followed by Surat at 12.
As many as 14 patients, out of 1,949 active cases in the state, are on ventilator, Ravi said.
The state has so far conducted tests for coronavirus on a total of 36,829 people, 3,513 of them in the last 24 hours, she said.
Two COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad have been infused with plasma as part of plasma therapy being conducted after permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ravi informed the media.
Convalescent plasma therapy uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients to treat severely-ill COVID-19 patients.
"Plasma has been infused in two patients as part of plasma therapy clinical trial being done in Ahmedabad after approval of the ICMR. A man and a woman, both aged 50, are being treated using the process," Ravi said.
She also informed that the use of rapid testing kits sent to the state has been put on hold until further order on direction of the central government.
The senior bureaucrat said the use of rapid testing kits, made available by the ICMR, has been put on hold after some of them were found to be faulty.
"However, these kits are still being used for training purpose across all districts," she said.
She said the state government is sourcing ICMR- approved kits from other channels.
District-wise, Ahmedabad has reported 1,378 cases, Vadodara 194, Surat 347, Rajkot 40, Bhavnagar 32, Anand 28, Bharuch 24, Gandhinagar 17, Patan and Banaskantha 15 each, Narmada and Aravalli 12 each, Panchmahal 11, Chhota Udepur, Mehsana and Botad seven each, Kutch six, Dahod four, Gir Somnath, Kheda, Sabarkantha, Mehisagar and Valsad three each, and Jamnagar, Morbi, Tapi, Tapi and Navsari one each.
The latest Gujarat coronavirus tally: Positive cases 2,178; deaths 90; discharged 139; active 1,949; total tests 36,829.
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