Gujarat COVID-19 cases up by 280 to 1376; death toll 53

Gujarat on Saturday reported the highest single-day spike of 280 in COVID-19 cases, with Ahmedabad alone accounting for 239 new detections, a Health department official said.

With this, the number of the infected people in the state shot up to 1376, while the death toll rose by 12 to 53.

With 239 new cases and five deaths, Ahmedabad's tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 862 and the number of the victims at 25, the official said.

"Most of these cases have been reported from hotspot areas in Ahmedabad, mainly due to concentrated testing," said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.

Simultaneously, the number of people recovered from COVID-19 disease went up to 88 on Saturday with seven more being discharged from hospitals in Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Rajkot and Gandhinagar.

Of the 12 new deaths, five deceased were form Ahmedabad, two from Surat, and one each from Panchmahal, Anand, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, and Vadodara, she said.

Among other cities, fresh cases were reported from Vadodara (16), Surat (13), Bhavnagar (4). While Panchmahal and Rajkot have each reported two coronavirus positive cases, one case each was reported from Sabarkantha, Anand, Bharuch, Rajkot and Mahisagar, the official added.

Vadodara and Surat each have reported 153 cases so far.

Most of the 12 new victims of COVID-19 suffered from underlying conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, among others, Ravi said.

"The state tested a total of 2,664 samples in the last 24 hours, out of which 277 tested positive and the rest negative. So far, a total 26,102 samples have been tested," Ravi added.