Gujarat COVID-19 cases nears 20,000; BSF post, navy base under virus grip

Ahmedabad city has so far reported deaths of 994 coronavirus patients and recovery of 210 patients, followed by Surat (25) and Vadodara (23).
Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) buses ferry passengers to Saurashtra during the ongoing COVID-19 nationwide lockdown in Surat Wednesday May 13 2020. (Photo | PTI)
Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) buses ferry passengers to Saurashtra during the ongoing COVID-19 nationwide lockdown in Surat Wednesday May 13 2020. (Photo | PTI)

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat on Saturday reported 498 new coronavirus positive cases and 29 deaths, including 26 in Ahmedabad district, taking the total case count to 19,617, and fatalities to 1,219, state health department said.

The number of recovered cases also rose to 13,324 with 313 more patients getting discharged from hospitals, it said.

With this, there are 5,074 active cases in Gujarat.

As many as 61 patients are on ventilator, the statement said.

The state has so far tested 2,45,606 samples.

Ahmedabad reported 289 new cases, followed by Surat (92) and Vadodara (34), it said.

While the total cases in Ahmedabad rose to 13,968, the number of cases in Surat went up to 2,033 and 1,258 in Vadodara, it said.

Ahmedabad city has so far reported deaths of 994 coronavirus patients and recovery of 210 patients, followed by Surat (25) and Vadodara (23), the statement said.

Among 17 other districts that reported fresh COVID-19 cases are Gandhinagar (20), Rajkot (8) and Valsad (7).

Five Border Security Force (BSF) jawans on Saturday tested positive for novel coronavirus in Bhuj in Gujarat's Kutch district, an official said.

The five jawans of the BSF's 79th battalion stationed at Bhuj were detected with the infection after they resumed duty post a holiday in their native states, the Kutch district official said.

"They were quarantined on their return and have now tested positive for coronavirus," he said.

Kutch district also reported two more COVID-19 cases during the day, he added.

Two workers of Kandla Port near Gandhidham in the district were detected with COVID-19 on their arrival from Maharashtra.

"The two were in quarantine along with 14 others on their return," the official added.

Sixteen trainee sailors of the Indian Navy have tested coronavirus positive at the naval base in Gujarat's Porbandar in the last four days, an official said on Friday.

As Porbandar does not have a military hospital, all of them have been shifted to such a facility in Jamnagar, state defence spokesperson Puneet Chadha said.

"These are trainee sailors posted at the Porbandar naval base. Initially, eight sailors tested coronavirus positive and were shifted to Jamnagar military hospital," he said.

"After contact tracing, health officials collected some more samples from the base and found another eight sailors to be infected two days back. All of them have been shifted to Jamnagar for treatment," Chadha added.

According to him, the work of sanitising the naval base has been completed by the authorities and some of the staff members were also quarantined as a precautionary measure.

This is the second such instance in the state wherein defence personnel were found to have contracted coronavirus.

In April, four soldier craftsmen undergoing training at the Military Station in Vadodara had tested positive for the infection.

Gujarat COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 19,617, new cases 498, deaths 1,219, discharged 13,324, active cases 5,074 and people tested so far 2,45,606.

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