GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat is fully equipped to face the possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government said on Monday. The state government has formulated a comprehensive action plan— Harshe Corona-Jitshe Gujarat— in a bid to tackle the possible third wave of the deadly outbreak.
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, said that the first and the second waves of Covid-19 have been largely controlled by the state government through intensive health measures, three Ts (testing, tracing, and treatment), efforts of the frontline workers, and the cooperation of the people of the state.
He made it clear that in Gujarat, they do not have to adopt a complete lockdown system like other states. With the cooperation of the people and adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines in the state, we have been able to gradually reduce the number of Corona cases, he said. Instead of complete lockdowns, Gujarat imposed limited restrictions in only 6 cities.
During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, around 1,600 cases were registered daily in the state around September 25 last year, and it increased to 1,800-1,900 in November. “As a result of our intensive measures and strict adherence to the guidelines, the number of such cases dropped to 200-275 cases per day in February,” Rupani said.
During the second wave of the pandemic in the state, the highest number of cases was recorded on April 30, at 17,605, and the number of active patients of Covid was 1.48 lakh in the entire state.
Vijay Rupani said that the number of cases has come down to less than 500 in the last week. Nevertheless, Rupani said, the Covid-19 virus has not gone away yet.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani added that in the wake of the possibility of a possible third wave, the state government had started preparations from the second week of May. Views and opinions were sought to formulate an action plan by holding meetings with expert doctors of the state’s Covid Task Force.
The CM Rupani said that regular meetings of the core committee to review the situation of Covid19 in the state have also been held from time to time to discuss in detail the pre-preparations.
“We are announcing the action plan strategy today, finalizing all these views and the outcome of the various decisions of the core committee,” he said.
Giving details about the features of this strategy-action plan of the state government, the Chief Minister said, “We have formulated this strategy with special focus on two things. Accordingly, the state government is committed to moving forward with a two-pronged strategy to prevent the onset of the third wave— to decrease the intensity of the outbreak by following the protocols, and as well as increase the capacity of the health system to deal with the potential third wave if the number of cases increases.”