Gujarat recorded a total of 30 positive cases of novel coronavirus by Monday, with at least five new patients contracting the infection via local transmission from their family members, signalling “stage two” of the pandemic. Health Department Principal Secretary Jayanti Ravi said at a press conference that cases are expected to be on the rise during “stage two” of the pandemic whe-re the virus gets transmitted locally. Local transmission is confirmed when the source of the infection is from within a particular area and the trajectory of the virus from one person to the next is clearly established. Senior medical officer (epidemic), Health Department, Umang Mishra, said that the local transmissions seen so far has been limited to the family members while Principal Secretary anticipated “clustering”. Meanwhile, the state government issued orders to enforce the lockdown after people came out on the streets on Monday. All public vehicles, including maxi cabs and autorickshaws, have been banned till March 31. Among eight new cases reported on Monday, the 49-year-old father of a 26-year-old man who came from Dubai to Gandhinagar tested positive. This is the third member in his family to test positive. Earlier, the man’s 81-year-old grandmother and his 26-year-old wife tested positive. Ahmedabad reported its first case of local transmission in a 33-year-old man. Five others from Ahmedabad too tested positive, but all with a travel history. These include a 58-year-old man and two women, aged 57 and 85, all from Saudi Arabia, a 61-year-old man who returned from the UK and a 24-year-old woman who came from France. With these, the total number of positive cases in Ahmedabad went up to 17, including 16 from the AMC jurisdiction. Vadodara Vadodara reported its sixth positive case on Monday with a 45-year-old woman testing positive after returning from a family tour to Sri Lanka. The patient is the wife of the 59-year-old man who tested positive on Friday. Late on Sunday, the couple’s 29-year-old daughter-in-law and 27-year-old daughter too tested positive, both via local transmission. So far 27 samples were sent for testing from Vadodara, of which six are positive and reports of three are awaited. These three samples also include reports of a 24-year-old resident doctor from the SSG Hospital who was admitted to the isolation ward with high fever and symptoms of flu. As of Monday, 31 patients were quarantined at institutional facilities while around 850 have been home-quarantined in Vadodara with the VMC pasting stickers warning visitors about the home-quarantine outside such homes. Officer on Special Duty to Vad-odara, Vinod Rao, said, “We are exploring the possibility of developing a 250-bed Infectious Disease Facility at the Gotri Medical College. If need be, Samras Hostel will be developed as a quarantine facility. We are also making a list of hospitals that are not fully occupied or are not functional and hotels that are ready to spare their rooms for quarantine facilities.” Municipal Commissioner, Nalin Upadhyay said, “So far we have received 170 messages from people about suspected cases and an immediate screening is done. Door-to-door campaign by health workers is also under way. We have the list of people who have travelled from abroad from concerned authorities and are updating it.” Rajkot The condition of a 32-year-old man who was among the first to test positive for the novel coronavirurs was improving and health officials said that his samples were sent for testing for one more time on Monday even as one more person with suspected symptoms was admitted to the isolation ward of civil hospital. “The condition of the patient is better now. Today, we sent his samples to MP Shah Medical College for coronavrius tests on the adivice of a physician treating him. We are expecting his laboratory results tomorrow,” said Mitesh Bhanderi, chief district health officer (CDHO), Rajkot. The man tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday and has been in the isolation ward in Rajkot Civil Hospital since Wedn-esday. He and his family travelled to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and had returned to India on March 8. Dr Manish Mehta, medical superintendent of the Rajkot Civil Hospital said that recommending laboratory tests was discretion of doctors. “They physicians who are treating him are making decisions like as to when to test him for the second time for the coronavirus. But in general, his condition is improving,” Dr Mehta said. Rajkot Municipal Commi-ssioner Udit Agrawal said that 678 persons who have returned from foreign travel are in home quarantine along with their 1446 family members were in quarantine in their respective homes. CM’s warning Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani who held a meeting with representatives of the industry on Monday said the state was passing through a decisive phase and the number of coronavirus could increase in the coming days. “We are going to pass through a decisive stage. In the coming days, the number of positive cases can rise,” said Rupani in his address on Monday. He said at present the government and people had only of social distancing and discouragement of mass gatherings at all costs. “We have locked down our bigger cities of Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat, Gandhinagar and Kutch, where positive cases are coming from,” the CM said. “As per the directions of Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), I held a video conference with all the senior members of the industry and chambers of commerce. I am happy to state that they have assured of all help and cooperation,” he said. Surat The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has adopted 3T (Tract, Test, and Treat) strategy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. No positive cases were reported in Surat on Monday, while reports of three patients were pending. Nine new patients with suspected symptoms were admitted to different hospitals and their samples were sent for lab test. The SMC Surat Municipal Corporation has made different teams in all the zones to do home survey and identify persons with cough, cold or sneezing. They will be advised to get treatment in the municipal hospital or private hospitals. SMC has also made a mobile application — COVID-19 tracker — where people can upload their photos or videos about symptoms on it. Under testing strategy, if any of the 2,023 people who are in home quarantine develop any symptoms, they would be tested immediately and given treatment at the New Civil Hospital or SMIMER hospital, said SMC commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani. One person died in Surat city, while five positive cases are under treatment and 28 tested negative so far. The reports of three suspected patients are still awaited, while on Monday, nine new suspected cases arrived in different hospitals in Surat. A 45-year-old man who came in contact with another patient tested positive on Sunday.
