Five new coronavirus cases in Guj; count rises to seven

Five more persons tested positive for the coronavirus in Gujarat on Friday, taking the number of confirmed Covid-19 patients in the state to seven.

On Thursday, the state had recorded its first two cases of the virus infection.

On Friday morning, three new cases surfaced while another two persons were confirmed to have contracted the infection in the evening.

"Total cases till now seven," tweeted the state Health and Family Welfare Department.

The latest patients were a 27-year-old man from Ahmedabad who had returned from London via Dubai a few days ago, and a 69-year-old woman from Vadodara who had returned from Sri Lanka recently.

In the morning, authorities had confirmed three cases -- a man from Vadodara and two women from Ahmedabad. All of them have travel history to foreign countries.

Several persons who had possibly come in contact with these patients including their family members were also admitted to quarantine as a precaution, said a release by the Health Department.

Till now, out of 189 samples collected for testing, seven came out positive for the infection, 148 came out negative and results of 34 samples are pending, said the release.

On Thursday, a man from Rajkot and a woman from Surat were the first to be diagnosed with coronavirus in Gujarat since the outbreak of the epidemic.

The state government has already ordered the closure of schools, colleges, tuitions, gyms, water parks, multiplexes, 'party plots' where functions are held, and other public places.

To prevent gatherings of people, police as well as collectors of some districts have issued orders under section 144 of the CrPC, banning four or more persons from assembling at one place.

Such notifications were issued by Ahmedabad city police and Banaskantha and Botad district collectors today.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said four laboratories in the state are now equipped to conduct coronavirus tests.

All the stores, except those selling essential commodities, located inside shopping malls will have to close their operations till further orders, he said.

From Saturday, people will not be allowed to visit government offices till March 31. Foodgrains and other essential commodities will be provided for two months in advance at ration shops, Patel announced.

Widows, old people and the disabled will get their next month's pension amounts transferred directly to their bank accounts.