Postal dept to deliver essentials in Surat

Surat: The postal department will soon deliver essentials to elderly people in the city and talks are on advance stage with the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) to enable this at the earliest.

According to municipal commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani, SMC is in talks with the Postal department to set up a helpline number where elderly people can get essential items through home delivery. “Senior citizens are the most susceptible to this virus and we are devising ways to ease their lives in these tough times,” he said.

Pani said that highest number of Covid-19 cases, 192 positive have been reported from Limbayat Zone till Thursday evening. He blames disobeying of social distancing norm to be the major reason behind the rise of such cases. Of the total Covid-19 positive cases in the city, 37 percent positive cases are from Mandarwala and Mithikhadi area alone, he said.

Total 14 patients have been discharged and 14 people have died in Surat city till April 24. So far, 2,879 people are under quarantine in the city.

“We are consistently asking people to stay at home and maintain social distancing in public and wear masks besides ensuring that elders in the family do not get expose to Covid-19. If cases doubles every third day, city would have 1.64 lakh cases by May 31. We have seen this jump in Mandarwaja area in city,” Pani warned.

“We have started rapid antibody testing in Surat and through this testing, one person was tested Covid positive,” the civic body chief informed.

Meanwhile, death from coronavirus climbed to 14, after a 53-year-old woman from Nanpura’s Kalapeshi Mohalla passed away at the New Civil Hospital (NCH) on Friday.

Savita Nagar, 53, a resident of Kalapeshi Mohalla in Nanpura had tested positive and she was also suffering from co-morbid condition including diabetes and blood pressure.

Two tested positive at the EWS housing quarters at Honey Park Road in Adajan. One Savitri Trivedi, 40 and a grocery shop owner identified as Keshav Rathod, 33, tested positive. The SMC has placed the entire EWS quarters, having about 300 flats and 1,200 residents, under quarantine till further notice.