Even as COVID-19 cases and deaths in Gujarat continued to go up, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, on Friday, assured people that there would be no shortage of medical facilities for the patients in the state.
Rupani, who came live on his Facebook page, said the state government is making every effort to curb the spread of the disease. Noting that there is no shortage of ventilators in the state, the chief minister said more COVID-19 care centres, ICUs and ventilatory support systems will be set up in the coming days.
In an attempt to assure people that the state is equipped to deal with the crisis, the chief minister said there are 9,500 beds for COVID-19 patients at various centres in the state, while the number of cases crossed only 2,500 mark.
On Friday evening, principal secretary (health and family welfare) Jayanti Ravi said the number of cases in Gujarat stood at 2,815.
Rupani said the whole idea is to have the facilities in place, and added that it does not matter if these would be occupied.
The chief minister admitted that the number of COVID-19 cases in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara are a cause of concern. Ahmedabad alone accounted for more than 60 per cent cases in the state.
The chief minister made a mention of the Tablighi Jamaat event during his address, holding them responsible for the increased number of cases in the state.
Meanwhile, two days ago, DGP Shivanand Jha had appealed people not to come out on the roads or visit religious places during the upcoming Parshuram Jayanti and Ramzan. However, on Friday, videos that went viral showed people crowding the roads in Muslim neighbourhoods in Ahmedabad.