COVID-19 cases spike on Nov 10-11, Guj govt to ramp up testing, vaccination

A slight increase in the daily addition to the COVID-19 caseload has led to the Gujarat government asking all local bodies and district authorities to increase testing and speed up vaccination.

Against an average of 20 daily cases since the last several weeks, 42 cases were reported on November 10 and 40 on November 11.

Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Manoj Aggarwal, who admitted that the average daily testing had dropped to almost half as people went out during Diwali vacations, said eight municipal corporations have been asked once again to erect domes in their areas to conduct RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests to cover the maximum number of people.

"Along with conducting tests, these domes will also be used for giving COVID-19 vaccine to the people. Before Diwali, we used to conduct around 75,000 tests in a day. But, it came down to around 35,000 daily tests during Diwali as most people went for vacations. Now, we want to take the daily tests to the past levels and even go beyond that," he told PTI.

The state government has also decided to screen people coming back at bus stations, airports and railway stations, Aggarwal said, adding that nearly 50 per cent of those who went out of Gujarat were yet to come back.

"We have also planned to set up testing domes at places where large number of people gather, such as the foothills of Girnar. Civic bodies have been asked to once again deploy Dhanvantri Rath, a mobile van providing doorstep non-COVID service. Our focus will be on screening and contact tracing to make sure no infected person goes out of the net," the IAS officer said.

He said the state government was aiming for 100 per cent vaccination, for which door-to-door visits will be made, while people could also call in case they were unable to visit inoculation centres, and the doses will be administered in their homes.

"Cases have increased because people are coming back from vacation. We have to remain alert and follow all guidelines and rules to make sure the infection does not rise again," Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said while addressing a gathering in Palanpur during the day.