With the Covid-19 surge unstoppable, Gujarat reported as many as 6,275 fresh cases during the last 24 hours ending Saturday evening even as there was not a single Omicron infection case. This is an increase of 598 cases over Friday.
This, when crowds continued to throng several popular kite markets with Uttarayan round the corner as well as eating joints giving social distancing and masks a go-by.
Pics By – Hanif Sindhi
Be it the upmarket areas like the Sindhu Bhawan Road or the famous markets in old Ahmedabad, people were almost oblivious to the increasing number of cases.
The decades-old Gujri Market, the famous flea market in Ahmedabad, was choc-a-bloc with hundreds of people — a majority of them without masks.
Pics By – Hanif Sindhi
Similarly, the popular food markets in Manek Chowk, Raipur, Jamalpur, Dariapur and several others, especially in the walled city saw huge crowds
Simultaneously, the police continued to crack the whip on the violators of the Covid protocols. In Ahmedabad alone, the police fined 246 people Rs 2.46 lakh at the rate of Rs 1,000 per person for strutting around the town without masks.
Pics By – Hanif Sindhi
Ahmedabad and Surat continued to push the number of cases with the State’s commercial capital reporting the highest 2,487 cases and the diamond city followed with 1,696 cases during the last 24 hours.
Vadodara with 347 cases, Rajkot 194, Gandhinagar 153 cases, Navsari 118 and Valsad reported 107 cases.
Gujarat’s active cases have jumped to 27,913 and 26 of them are on ventilator support. According to an official statement from the State Health Department, 1,263 patients recovered during the last 24 hours and Gujarat now has a recovery rate 95.59%.
There was no Omicron infection case on Saturday, while 19 patients recovered.
