52 workers test positive for Covid at bullet train site in Ahmedabad

Principal secretary, health, Jayanti Ravi, and her team are still camping in Rajkot, which reported a record high of over 160 cases on Friday of the 1,320 cases in the state. However, the mismatch in the Covid-19 death figures continued to reflect in the bulletins put out by the state government and the one put out by the district administration.

The state bulletin reported two deaths in the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) area of the total 15 deaths in the state, while the district administration showed three Covid-19 deaths in the rural jurisdiction with no data on the deaths for the RMC jurisdiction.

Mitesh Bhanderi, chief district health officer (CDHO) of Rajkot, said his office issues bulletin of Rajkot rural only as per instructions from the district collector.

“We are getting information from Rajkot Municipal Corporation late and that was causing delay (in collating the data). It happened today also, so we issued a bulletin for Rajkot rural while the RMC would issue its own separately,” said Bhanderi. He added that 16 patients died in various Covid hospitals on Friday.

The RMC bulletin mentioned the total Covid-19 deaths to be 74 on Friday. Till Thursday, the toll was 70, which means four patients died of the diease on Friday.

Messages to district collector Remya Mohan didn’t elicit a response.

Among those who died were Bharuch police station head constable Dharmesh Shambhubhai.

According to the office of Gujarat DGP, Shambhubhai, a frontline Covid-19 worker and head constable at B division Bharuch police station, tested positive on August 21 and subsequently succumbed to the infection.

The cumulative tally of cases at Morbi crossed 1,000 on Thursday. Other districts to have crossed 1,000 cases this week include Gir Somnath, Valsad and Kheda.