Gujarat reported 4,213 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday and the health department has called for all hands on deck, cancelling leaves of employees with immediate effect.
In a press release by the state government, it was notified that all employees of the health department have been ordered to report on duty with leaves cancelled, with immediate effect. It was also notified that in light of the Covid-19 situation and with the “transmission of the disease likely to increase in the near future”, leaves will not be granted in the near future unless for “unavoidable circumstances”.
With the rise in cases, a slew of events scheduled in Ahmedabad and other parts the state, including the International Kite Festival, now stand suspended or cancelled.
Ahmedabad city reported 1,835 new cases on Thursday against the 1,637 cases it reported a day ago and Surat reported nearly double the new infections than it did a day ago — from 690 to 1,193.
While Ahmedabad’s weekly test positivity rate now stands at 11.6 per cent according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Surat has managed to control its weekly test positivity rate at 2.9 per cent.
The International Kite Festival under the aegis of Gujarat’s tourism department, slated to be held in Ahmedabad from January 8 to 13, stands cancelled and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation announced cancellation of its Annual Flower Show, the decision taken “in the wake of rapid surge in Covid-19 cases in the state”. The Flower Show was scheduled from January 8 to 23.
Ahmedabad city added 16 new micro-containment zones, taking the number of such zones in the city to 108. Most of the micro-contained households — 46 of the total 64 — were in the north west zone areas of Bodakdev and Bopal.
Minister of State of Home department Harsh Sanghavi announced on Twitter that NaMo Job Fair, held every year on the occasion of Sanghavi’s birthday, has been cancelled “as per the growing Covid cases” and added that “new dates of the Job Fair will be announced soon.”
The job fair was scheduled to be held in Surat on January 8. Sanghavi, in a video message, posted on Twitter added that “we are trying that with the medium of technology, those youths who registered for the job fair, can be interviewed by the recruiting companies”.
The 42nd Saptak Annual Music Festival in Ahmedabad, organised by the Saptak School of Music, which commenced on January 1 and was planned to continue until January 13, was “temporarily stopped” due to the Covid situation, according to a statement.
The announcement by the music school also noted that “it will review the situation and decide” on the remaining sessions of the festival later.