Four new COVID-19 cases in Gujarat; state tally 179

The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 179 on Wednesday with four more people contracting the disease, a health department official said.

Out of the four new cases, two were reported from Bhavnagar and one each from Surat and Vadodara, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.

District-wise, 83 out of the total 179 coronavirus cases have been reported from Ahmedabad, 23 from Surat, 16 from Bhavnagar, 13 each from Vadodara and Gandhinagar, 11 from Rajkot, five from Patan, three from Porbandar, two each from Kutch, Mehsana and Gir Somnath, and one each from Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Jamnagar, Morbi, Anand, and Sabarkantha.

So far, 16 people have died and 25 discharged after recovery, she said.

Ahmedabad has till now reported five deaths, followed by Surat-four, Vadodara and Bhavnagar-two each, and Panchmahal, Patan and Jamnagar- one each.

A 14-month-old child, who died in Jamnagar on Tuesday, was the youngest victim of the deadly virus in Gujarat.

Out of the total cases, 114 cases are locally transmitted, 33 are of patients with the foreign travel history and 32 with inter-state travel history, the health department in a release.

Out of 138 active cases, two patients are on ventilator support and their condition is critical, it said, adding that 136 others are stable.

Forty eight locations in five cities - 32 in Ahmedabad, seven in Rajkot, five in Bhavnagar, and two each in Surat and Vadodara - covering a population of 1.55 lakh have been brought under the state government's cluster containment plan, where measures like imposing complete lockdown and intensive screening of suspected cases have been taken.

Ravi said the state health department has increased testing of samples of suspected cases form these areas on a large scale.

"It is a conscious decision to carry out intensive testing in cluster areas. We have carried out 932 tests in the last 24 hours, of which 14 have come out positive while the results of 231 are expected today," she said.