Govt tracking 27,000 who entered Gujarat after March 1

Over 27,000 people have entered Gujarat since March 1 through various ports of entries and the state health department have initiated steps to track them and trace out their contacts to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Addressing the media, Jayanti Ravi, Principal Secretary, state Health and Family Welfare Department, said, "We have received a list from the central government of more than 27,000 people showing residential address in Gujarat as per their passports. They have entered Gujarat through various ports of entry since March 1. We will be tracking them as well as those who came in their contact for isolation."

The Secretary said till date 433 people had been forcibly isolated and 6,525 isolated at home. "These people had violated the health guidelines and have been forcefully quarantined in the government institutional setups," Ravi said.

"Every family members of those who are in quarantine and those suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) will be traced. A survey has been initiated. We request citizens to co-operate. Persons violating the regulations will be prosecuted," the Health Secretary said.

Ravi also informed about the newly added areas to be locked down. "Just like the Deputy Chief Minister said in the morning, apart from Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, we have also included Gandhinagar and Kutch for a partial lockdown. These are based on the three parameters of the Epidemic Act, 1897 -- the number of positive cases in an area, the number of deaths and the intensity of people coming from abroad," said Ravi.

For violations, 10 FIRs have been lodged under the Gujarat Epidemic Regulations 2020.

According to the health department, 104 helpline, setup for the Covid-19 outbreak, initially received 50-100 calls a day. "But since a couple of days, we are receiving over 5,000 calls a day," said Ravi. IANS