Gujarat identifies 15 hotspots for strict coronavirus containment

AHMEDABAD: In a drastic step to contain Covid-19 spread in vulnerable areas, the Gujarat government on Monday identified 15 hotspots in four cities. State health department officials said that these areas were found to have more concentration of positive cases and transmission.
Of 15, eight are in Ahmedabad, three in Surat and two each in Vadodara and Bhavnagar.Ahmedabad was already identified as a national hotspot earlier this month by the central government due to unusually high number of cases.
Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health & family welfare), said that the 15 areas have been identified for concentrated action to arrest Covid-19 spread. "Multiple agencies at state and city level would ensure that no person from the zone would come out or no person would go in. Maximum testing of the occupants would be initiated along with identification of contact of the positive patients," she said.
Ravi said the plan for 'total and strict' area lockdowns has been finalized in a state-level meet which was put into implementation on immediate basis.
The state has also ramped up testing of suspect cases - state tested a record 311 samples against an average of 100-120 daily tests so far. The highest 95 tests were carried out in Ahmedabad, health department officials said. The city on Monday recorded eight new cases, primarily associated with the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Nizamuddin in Delhi in early March. With discharge of one more patient on Monday, now the state has 22 persons who have been cured.