Gujarat crosses the mark of 600

Reports 615 cases, highest single-day jump so far, taking tally to 30,773; death toll reaches 1,790 with 18 fatalities; Ahmedabad gets 211 cases, lowest in 2 months; Surat's peak rises as it reports 184 fresh cases of Covid-19 infection

Gujarat saw its highest single-day spike in the number of cases, reporting 615 cases on Saturday.

The previous peak was 580, reported twice this month. The state has had more than 500 cases in 17 days in June. The number of deaths in 24 hours remained 18 for the third consecutive day. The tally of cases has reached 30,773 and the death toll at 1,790.

Ahmedabad district reported 211 cases on Saturday, its lowest since April 28 when 164 persons had tested positive. Its tally has now reached 20,269. Ten deaths and 197 cases were reported from the AMC limits.

Surat continued to see an increase in cases with 184, its highest so far, taking its total to 4,242. Vadodara reported 47 new cases, Navsari 21, Mehsana 16, Anand 11, Kutch 11, Rajkot 12, Gandhinagar nine, Bharuch eight, and Sabarkantha, Surendranagar and Chhota Udepur seven cases each.

Of the 18 deaths, Ahmedabad reported 12, Surat two and Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Botad and Junagadh one death each. The death toll in Ahmedabad rose to 1,410.

The recovery rate of the state has improved to 73.08 per cent, while the case doubling rate has improved to 28 days, the health department said. The mortality rate, on the other hand, has come down to 3.88 per cent over the last few weeks, it claimed.

379 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recovered patients to 22,417, the health department said.

Former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) General Secretary Shankersinh Vaghela tested positive for the infection on Saturday. He has gone into self-quarantine at his residence in Gandhinagar. He was suffering from fever for 3-4 days.

11 cases in Kutch Army cant

Eleven of the new infection cases were reported from an army cantonment in Kutch district, the state health department said.

The Defence PRO said that these jawans had returned from different states at the end of their leaves and joined duty recently. As per protocol, they had been placed in 14-day isolation when they began showing symptoms. They were tested and were found positive for the infection.

820 e-memos issued to drivers without mask

As many as 820 e-memos have been issued since June 8 to people driving without masks, as per a release issued by AMC.

The civic body had been monitoring the junctions via over 3,000 CCTVs installed in the city as part of the smart city project. AMC had formed 151 teams in seven zones. Till now, the civic body has collected Rs 60.29 lakh from 70,486 persons who violated the rule of wearing masks outside homes. The maximum fine, Rs 12.04 lakh was collected from the south zone.

Ahmedabad police department which has been roped in to nab those violating the mask rule collected Rs 4,45,600 from 2,274 persons in the past few days.

Rajasthan Hospital, trustees fined Rs 77L

Coming down heavily on Rajasthan Hospital in Shahibaug for violation of rules under the Epidemic Diseases Act as well as negligence leading to death of a patient, the AMC on Saturday slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the hospital trust. It also slapped a fine of Rs 52 lakh—2 lakh each—on 26 persons, including eight members of the board of management and 18 trustees, taking the total fine amount to Rs 77 lakh. The fine will have to be paid to AMC within seven days. AMC also lodged a complaint against the hospital at Shahibaug police station on Saturday.

Mirror had reported on June 22 about the death of a 73-year-old Covid-19 patient Harish Kadiya,, reportedly due to delay by the hospital in allowing the ambulance inside and then providing a stretcher. AMC had also issued a notice to the hospital, citing violation of MoU terms . The Gujarat HC had also directed AMC to take appropriate action against the hospital for negligence in treating a patient.