Over 430 corona cases detected in Gujarat in just one week

During the last week, over 430 positive cases were added in the state --around 250 from Ahmedabad alone in the same period.

State health authorities have found out that of the total positive cases detected, most were from Muslim-dominated areas where the Tablighi Jamaat members had returned from Delhi's Nizamuddin.

The state government then announced 28 hotspots in the state's five major cities where a strict and ruthless lockdown was implemented.

Due to aggressive and intense surveillance and testing in hotspots of five major cities and elsewhere, the number of positive cases, starting from April 7 jumped from a total of 144 to 378 in just 4 days.

Most cases in the spike were reported from Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Bhavnagar. Later, the health authorities felt that the spike in the number of positive cases had reached a peak and no further rise was expected.

"We feel that the number of positive cases in hotspots has reached a saturation point. From tomorrow onwards we will be focusing on other areas of the state, where the virus has not shown its presence," Jayanti Ravi, Gujarat Health Secretary, had said on April 10.

However, the numbers of positive cases spiked since then. From a total of 378 in the state on the April 10, after five days, the count went up touching the 700 mark (695 on Wednesday). Similarly, Ahmedabad saw a climb in positive cases from 197 to 404 on Wednesday.

Not only is the virus rapidly spreading in hotspots, but it is also penetrating into the lesser commutable parts of the state, which had previously escaped from its stranglehold. During the last week, the virus has shown its presence in areas such as Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda and Botad.

Ahmedabad has the most of positive cases (404), followed by Vadodara (116), Surat (48), Bhavnagar (26), Rajkot (18), Gandhinagar (16), Patan (14), Bharuch (11), Anand (10), Panchmahal and Chotta Udepur with 5 each, Kutch and Mehsana with 4 each, Gir-Somnath, Dahod and Banaskantha two each and Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha, Botad and Kheda one each.

In the wake of a significant spike in the number of positive cases in hotspots in Ahmedabad, the Gujarat government on Tuesday imposed a week-long curfew in the walled city and in the Danilimda area.