Ahmedabad city reported 205 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday, breaching the mark of 200 for the first time in 83 days. There were 201 cases on December 22 last year. Meanwhile, a total of 2,017 persons tested positive in the city in the first 15 days of March. In fact, between March 1 and 15, the number of cases has more than doubled. Looking at the rapid surge in cases, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation announced partial lockdown in eight wards that have emerged as Covid hotspots.
As per a notification issued on Monday, AMC has identified eight wards - Jodhpur (which includes South Bopal), Navrangpura, Bodakdev, Thaltej, Gota, Paldi, Ghatlodia and Maninagar - where Covid-19 cases are on the rise. Restaurants, malls, show rooms, tea stall, eateries, garment shops, salons, spas, gyms and clubs located in these wards will have to close at 10 pm.
Besides these, the AMC has also ordered closure of Manek Chowk and Raipur eating joints from 10 pm. Currently, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot already have a night curfew in place starting at midnight. A senior AMC official said that vaccination will also be increased in these eight areas. “The AMC has increased testing in these areas. Dhanvantri Raths are being sent and testing has been increased. We have also started contact tracing of Covid-positive people to ensure they do not spread the virus.”
890 new cases in 24 hours in Gujarat
Gujarat reported its single-highest jump in Covid cases this year on Monday. Just like in Ahmedabad, the number of new cases in 24 hours in the State has more than doubled in 15 days. There were 427 cases on March 1, which rose to 890 on Monday. Gujarat is among the six states in the country where Covid cases are on the rise.
Surat topped the list of Covid cases on Monday with 266 cases, of which 240 were in the city. It also accounted for the single death in the State. It was followed by Ahmedabad with 209 cases, Rajkot with 95 cases and Vadodara with 93 cases. There were 31 cases in Bharuch, 23 in Kheda, 18 in Gandhinagar, 15 in Dahod, 14 each in Jamnagar, Anand, Narmada and the Panchmahals and 12 in Bhavnagar. The total tally of cases in Gujarat so far has reached 2,69,955 while the death toll sands at 4,425.
