Highest so far: 39 coronavirus samples tested in a day in Gujarat

The health department had also directed district collectors via video conference earlier this week, to take random samples.

Surat is expected to open a diagnostic facility for coronavirus testing, this week, said top government sources. Two diagnostic facilities are already operational at Ahmedabad’s BJ Medical College and Jamnagar’s MP Shah College. Till Wednesday, the two facilities together had tested 111 suspected symptomatic patients of the total 71,500 passengers screened at airports and ports.

Four major pilgrimage spots  Dwarka, Somnath, Dakor and Pavagadh will be closed to devotees from Friday, and all competitive examinations for government services scheduled till March 31 were postponed till April 14.

The government also suspended all Gujarat State Road Transport Services Corporation (GSRTC) buses to Maharashtra. Passengers arriving in Gujarat from other states will be screened at 16 checkposts.

Health department officials, however, said that all passengers are being screened at the airports regardless of the country they are coming from. However, those coming from the most affected countries are being home quarantined or kept under observation.

The state government has proposed a new diagnostic facility to be set up at SVP Hospital. A hospital source confirmed this and said it would come under the operational jurisdiction of NHL Medical College attached with the hospital.

A video conference was held by top officials of the state’s health department with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the chief Secretary on Thursday. The approval to start operations at the Surat facility is on its last leg as it awaits for an analysis report from NIV Pune, health department officials said.

Speaking on the testing kits, epidemiologist and medical officer with the health department Dr Nitesh Shah said, “ICMR provides us with the testing kits and at the end of each day, we make it a point to keep a reserve of 250 testing kits for the state.”

Umang Mishra, senior medical officer (epidemic) with the health department, said that of the 111 samples tested so far, all except one were tested based on being symptomatic and having a travel history. “There was one man from Surat who had attended the same conference that a person testing positive in Nagpur had. However, his test came out to be negative,” Mishra said.

AMC and SMC

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has issued an advisory to avoid visiting AMC offices and civic centres and use online platforms instead for filing complaints or paying taxes. It has also started video conferences instead of meetings for administrative work. However, the standing committee meeting scheduled on Thursday was held with the seating arrangement with a distance of a metre between two persons.

The Surat Municipal Corporation officials said they collected information about international passengers since January 15 and are tracking them. SMC Deputy Health commissioner Dr Ashish Naik said, “We have got the details of 1,080 people of Surat, who returned after foreign tour since January 15. We have contacted most of them, while 425 are still left.”

Educational institutes

The students of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) Gandhinagar, complained of last minute instructions from the institute to vacate their hostel rooms immediately in the wake of sanitisation process. “As per latest directives of the government of Gujarat, sanitisation of all dorms, hostels and high-rise structures have to be held as preventive measures. To carry out this operation in a phased manner, the university administration has taken compliance measures to sanitise tower A… We advise you to pick up your belongings and help us keep in a cloak room or authorise formally your local acquaintance to do the same on or before March 21. In case if you are not able to travel back, luggage will be packed by professional teams and guidance and observation of faculty and staff,” a mail sent by the University authorities stated.

While the state government has announced suspension of all teaching activities in education institutes till March 29, a few schools have extended this to April 15. This is expected to result in curtailing off the summer vacations for students.

(With inputs from Ritu Sharma in Ahmedabad, Parimal Dabhi in Gandhinagar and Kamaal Saiyed in Surat)