AIIMS chief rushes to Gujarat as rise in COVID-19 cases, fatalities

Experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences visited the civil hospital in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city on Saturday and interacted with frontline staff amid concerns over the rise in COVID-19 fatalities.

The city's COVID-19 mortality rate stands at 6.5 per cent, which is almost double that of the country's death rate of 3.3 per cent.

AIIMS director and pulmonologist Dr Randeep Guleria and Dr Manish Soneja of AIIMS' department of medicine, flew in on a special Indian Air Force plane on Friday, an official said.

The duo visited the civil hospital and met doctors and staff, who were attending to COVID-19 patients and offered them guidance, the release stated.

Principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi also interacted with frontline medical staff at the hospital, which has the highest number COVID-19 patients in the city.

The AIIMS doctors were also scheduled to visit Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital in the city.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had urged Union home minister Amit Shah to arrange for the visit from experts who could guide doctors involved in treating coronavirus patients.

As of Friday, Gujarat's COVID-19 count stood at 7,403 cases, of which 5,260 were from Ahmedabad district alone, while of the 449 deaths in the state, 343 were from the city.

At least 204 patients have died in the city's civil hospital, while 92 succumbed to the infection at Sardar Vallabhbhai Hospital.

The state government has also roped in private intensive care experts in the state to guide the civil hospital staff about ways to bring down the mortality rate.