Guj COVID-29 tally 144; Most new cases linked to Tablighi meet

Sixteen new coronavirus cases were reported from Gujarat on Monday, including 10 having direct or indirect link to the religious congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month, an official said.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state has gone up to 144, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.

Of the 16 new cases, 11 are from Ahmedabad, two from Vadodara and one each from Mehsana, Patan and Surat.

Nine of these patients from Ahmedabad and the one from Mehsana have link to the Nizamuddin religious event, the official said.

As many as 12 of the 16 new patients are in the age group of 15 to 40 years, she said.

"The reason behind the surge in positive cases is that samples from hotspot areas -- where more number of patients have been found -- are being tested intensively. Several cases have come up in areas where people returned from the Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi," Ravi said.

The death toll in the state has gone up to 12 after a 62-year old woman succumbed in Vadodara, she said.

The woman had travelled to Sri Lanka and was admitted to hospital on March 18 after she returned and fell ill.

Besides, 21 patients have been discharged so far after recovering from the viral infection, the official said.

Out of the 112 active cases, two patients are on ventilator support, while the condition of 110 others is stable, she said.

Ahmedabad has so far reported 64 cases, followed by Surat-17, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar- 13 each, Vadodara-12, Rajkot-10, Porbandar- three, Kutch, Mehsana, Gir Somnath, and Patan- two each, and Chhota Udepur, Jamnagar, Morbi and Panchmahals- one each.

Out of 2,714 samples tested in laboratories so far, results of 39 are pending, Ravi said.

While 84 cases in Gujarat are of local transmission of the infection, 33 patients have foreign travel history while 26 have inter-state travel history, she said.

A total 14,054 people are quarantined, including 12,885 who are kept under home quarantine, 900 in government facilities and 269 in private facilities.