Ahmedabad, Apr 21 () The count of coronavirus casesin Gujarat shot up to 2,178 on Tuesday with 239 new casesreported, most of them from Ahmedabad, while the death tollwent up to 90 after the addition of 19 fatalities, a healthdepartment official said.
Also, for the first time in Gujarat, two COVID-19patients are being treated using plasma therapy.
Ahmedabad reported the maximum 130 new cases, followedby Surat at 78, Vadodara six, Aravalli and Banaskantha fiveeach, Valsad three, Botad and Rajkot two each, and Bharuch,Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Dahod, Navsari, Gir Somnath, Kheda andTapi one each, the official said.
After the fresh infections, the number of coronaviruspositive cases in Ahmedabad, the worst-hit city in Gujarat,went up to 1,378, while in Surat it rose to 347.
Eight COVID-19 patients were also discharged onTuesday after recovering from the disease, taking the numberof such cases to 139, Principal Secretary (Health) JayantiRavi said.
Three patients were discharged from Ahmedabad, twofrom Mehsana, and one each from Kutch, Anand and Gir Somnathdistricts, Ravi said.
Out of the 19 patients who died on Tuesday, 12suffered from co-morbid conditions like heart disease, kidneydisease, hypertension, and diabetes, she said.
Fifteen of these 19 patients died in Ahmedabad, two inSurat, and one each in Bhavnagar and Bharuch.
Ahmedabad has so far reported the death of 53 COVID-19patients followed by Surat at 12.
As many as 14 patients, out of 1,949 active cases inthe state, are on ventilator, Ravi said.
The state has so far conducted tests for coronaviruson a total of 36,829 people, 3,513 of them in the last 24hours, she said.
Two COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad have been infusedwith plasma as part of plasma therapy being conducted afterpermission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),Ravi informed the media.
Convalescent plasma therapy uses antibodies from theblood of cured patients to treat severely-ill COVID-19patients.
"Plasma has been infused in two patients as part ofplasma therapy clinical trial being done in Ahmedabad afterapproval of the ICMR. A man and a woman, both aged 50, arebeing treated using the process," Ravi said.
She also informed that the use of rapid testing kitssent to the state has been put on hold until further order ondirection of the central government.
The senior bureaucrat said the use of rapid testingkits, made available by the ICMR, has been put on hold aftersome of them were found to be faulty.
"However, these kits are still being used for trainingpurpose across all districts," she said.
She said the state government is sourcing ICMR-approved kits from other channels.
District-wise, Ahmedabad has reported 1,378 cases,Vadodara 194, Surat 347, Rajkot 40, Bhavnagar 32, Anand 28,Bharuch 24, Gandhinagar 17, Patan and Banaskantha 15 each,Narmada and Aravalli 12 each, Panchmahal 11, Chhota Udepur,Mehsana and Botad seven each, Kutch six, Dahod four, GirSomnath, Kheda, Sabarkantha, Mehisagar and Valsad three each,and Jamnagar, Morbi, Tapi, Tapi and Navsari one each.
The latest Gujarat coronavirus tally: Positive cases2,178; deaths 90; discharged 139; active 1,949; total tests36,829. KA PD GKRSY RSY