AHMEDABAD: Gujarat on Tuesday reported 362 new COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths, including 21 in worst-hit Ahmedabad, taking the total case count to 8,904 and the fatalities to 537, a Health department official said.
With 466 more people being discharged from hospitals, their overall number rose to 3,246 across the state, which is a steep rise, said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.
The discharged patients included 15-month-old twins from Ahmedabad who were on ventilators, she said.
"Of the 24 deaths, 21 deaths were reported from Ahmedabad and one each from Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara," Ravi said.
With 267 new cases, Ahmedabad district's overall tally mounted to 6,353 and the number of fatalities to 421, the official said, adding that 392 of the 466 patients discharged on Tuesday were from Ahmedabad.
Among the 17 districts that reported new cases were Vadodara (27) and Surat (30).
"The discharge rate now stands at 36.5 per cent, which has seen a steep increase. The revised discharge guideline has been framed based on research conducted abroad which says that coronavirus shows no growth after seven days," she said.
Ravi said the state has so far tested 1,19,537 samples, including 3,066 in the last 24 hours.
Gujarat COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 8,904, new cases 362, deaths 537, discharged patients 3,246, active cases 5,121 and people tested so far 1,19,537.
Meanwhile, the state government announced on Tuesday that industrial activities will be allowed to resume in Rajkot city from May 14 as coronavirus pandemic is under control in the area.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a video conference with district officers and secretaries involved in the fight against coronavirus and discussed various measures suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the meeting with chief ministers the day before.
"Rajkot was already in the orange zone. But the state government had taken a decision not to allow lifting of curbs in the city," said secretary to the chief minister Ashwani Kumar.
"However, as coronavirus situation is under control in the city the government has decided to start industrial and commercial activities as per norms in orange zone from May 14," he added.
Rajkot has so far reported 97 cases of COVID-19 and two deaths.
Out of 97, 46 people have been discharged.
No new case was reported in the city in the last three days.
During the video conference, the chief minister informed that life in municipal corporations of Jamnagar and Junagadh and as many as 156 Nagar Palika along with rural areas is coming back to normalcy in terms of activities related to farming, trade and commerce, and employment.
Four municipal corporations -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Bhavnagar -- and six municipalities are in the red zone in Gujarat, where strict lockdown is being enforced.
In orange and green zones lockdown has been relaxed as per the central government's guidelines.