Gujarat's COVID-19 tally rises to 650; death toll up to 28

The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 650 after 78 fresh infections were reported on Tuesday, while the death toll increased to 28 with the addition of two more fatalities, a health department official said.The count of cases in Ahmedabad rose to 373 after 53 new infections were reported on Tuesday, while in Vadodara, the tally went up to 113 with the addition of six patients, the official said.

Two coronavirus patients died in Gujarat, one each in Bhavnagar and Vadodara, taking the toll in the state to 28.A 50-year-old coronavirus positive man with diabetes died in Bhavnagar, while a 58-year-old man with no underlying condition succumbed in Vadodara, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.

Ahmedabad district has reported the highest number of deaths at 13.Among other districts that reported fresh cases are Bhavnagar (3), Surat (9), Chhota Udepur (2), Anand (1), Mehsana (2), Dahod (1) and Gandhinagar (1).

The state also reported recovery of five more COVID-19 patients, taking the number of such people to 59, she said, adding among them two each were from Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad, and one from Surat.

As many as eight out of 563 active patients were on ventilator currently, while the health condition of 555 others is stable, Ravi said.

"As per our strategy to cover districts which have reported no coronavirus case so far, we tested 660 samples from 14 such districts, out of which only two samples turned out to be positive, both in Banaskantha district," she told reporters.

Among them is a five-year-old boy, whose family members had returned from Surat on March 24 and are now under quarantine, the senior bureaucrat said.

In the last 24 hours, 1,733 samples were tested for COVID-19.A total 15,984 samples have been tested so far in the state, with 650 coming out positive and no result awaited.

She said out of the 28 deaths reported from the state so far, only two were less than 40 years of age. One of them was a 14-month-old boy, while the other was aged 27.As many as 22 out of the deceased patients had some co-morbid conditions, she said, adding four others, all aged above 60, had no pre-existing illnesses.

District-wise, Ahmedabad has reported 373 cases, Surat 42, Rajkot 18, Vadodara 113, Gandhinagar 16, Bhavnagar 26, Kutch and Mehsana four each, Panchmahal, Banaskantha, Dahod and Gir Somnath two each, Chhota Udepur five, Porbandar three, Patan 14, Bharuch 11, Anand 10, and Jamnagar, Morbi, and Sabarkantha at one each.