By PTI
AHMEDABAD: In a relief to people from lower income groups in Gujarat, the state government allowed them to use their Mukhyamantri Amrutam (MA) cards and MA- Vatsalya cards to avail free COVID-19 treatment up to Rs 50,000 at private hospitals.
The decision to allow state government-issued MA and MA-Vatsalya cards for coronavirus treatment at private hospitals was taken by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani during a meeting with the core group of the state government, an official release said on Wednesday.
Now, MA or MA-Vatsalya card holders in the state can avail free coronavirus treatment up to Rs 50,000 at private hospitals in the ceiling of Rs 5,000 for maximum 10 days, it said, adding that the relief would remain in effect till July 10.
This decision would benefit around 80 lakh families, whose members were issued such cards by the government, the release added.
The state government issues MA cards to those belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category in the state so that the beneficiaries can avail cashless treatment for a number of critical illnesses at private hospitals.
The MA-Vatsalya cards, which offer similar benefits, are issued to the people from lower income group having an annual income of less than Rs 3 lakh.
Those working at crematoriums will be considered as COVID-19 frontline workers and will get all related benefits, the Gujarat government said on Wednesday.
The benefits include Rs 25 lakh for the family if a worker dies due to the virus infection.
“At the meeting of the state core committee headed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani it was decided that staff of crematoriums throughout the state should be considered as frontline workers,” an official release said.
They will be eligible for benefits retrospectively, from April 1, 2020, when the outbreak began.
The decision was taken as a compassionate measure considering that crematorium workers are overburdened, the release added.
The state on Wednesday reported 11,017 new coronavirus positive cases and 102 casualties that raised the tally of infections to 7,14,611 and toll to 8,731, an official from the state health department said.
The number of recoveries exceeded the infections, as 15,264 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said.
With this, the state’s recovery rate has increased to 80.94 per cent and the count of recoveries has reached 5,78,397, he said.
After peaking at 180 on April 29, the state’s daily COVID-19 fatalities have seen a decline, dropping to 102, which is the lowest since April 17.
According to the official data, Ahmedabad continued to report the highest number of daily cases in the state, with 2,883 new infections.
Vadodara followed with 1,148 new cases, Surat with 1,045, Rajkot with 621, Jamnagar with 511, Junagadh with 484, Bhavnagar with 436 and Mehsana with 411 cases, etc.
Ahmedabad recorded 17 deaths, followed by Surat with 14, Vadodara and Jamnagar with nine each, etc.
The state is now left with 1,27,483 active cases, with 804 patients on ventilators, the health department release stated.
In the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 9,318 with 104 new cases, an official said.
As many as 161 patients were discharged on Wednesday, increasing the number of recovered cases to 8,067, leaving the Union Territory with 1,247 active cases, he said, adding that four patients have died of the infection so far.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,45,67,089 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far in Gujarat, with the addition of 1,87,724 beneficiaries covered during the day.
As many as 27,28,366 beneficiaries have received their second dose of the vaccine, the department said in its release.
At least 3,86,743 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 have been covered in the drive so far, it was stated.
Gujarat’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 7,14,611, new cases 11,017, death toll 8,731, discharged 5,78,397, active cases 1,27,483, people tested so far – figures not released.
