Surat, Jul 4 (IANS): Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on his visit to Surat on Saturday announced an immediate grant of Rs 100 crore for setting up two dedicated Covid-19 hospitals in the City. Looking at the rising number of corona cases he also announced that 200 ventilators will be provided to the city within two days.

The Gujarat Chief Minister said, "We have assessed the situation here and we are taking steps to curb the virus outbreak. The stemcell hospital will be converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital shortly. The kidney hospital in the city too will be converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital within a month's time. One hundred crore rupees have been allocated for the purpose. We have already appointed 6 to 7 agencies to implement it."

"Further, we are sending 200 ventilators to the city to be setup in different hospitals, so that if the need arises they can be utilised. We are also provisioning one hundred Dhanwantari Raths which have been very successful in Ahmedabad to bring the virus under control," added Rupani.

"These Dhanwantari Raths will move across the city and carry out maximum number of OPD functions at different places," added Rupani.

Vijay Rupani and the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Nitin Patel were in the city along with senior officials of the state administration after Surat emerged as the new hotspot in the last few days.

"It is the responsibility of the state government to provide proper care, medication and treatment to the corona patients. We should not now have any complaints from patients saying that there are no beds available for them in hospitals," added Rupani.

"Since the last couple of days, the number of cases are on the rise in Surat and other places. We have been worrying about Surat right from Day 1 and have sent our top officials to the city. The principal secretary, health and family welfare, Jayanti Ravi is in the city since a couple of days and will be here for some more days," added Rupani.

The chief minister on his arrival to the Diamond City took a tour of the hospitals and affected areas. Thereafter he held talks with officials, political leaders and also met the medical fraternity and representatives of the IMA.

"Tonight, our party leaders like CR Patil and others will have discussions with the diamond and textile industry representatives and will chalk out a plan on how to move ahead while keeping safety and vigilance regarding the outbreak," added Rupani.

Since the last fortnight, the number of corona positive cases has been gradually moving upwards in Surat, where the daily spike is around 200 at present. From June 20, when the total tally of Surat was 3,057 cases, the Diamond City's tally today has reached 5,461. Over 1400 cases have been reported in the last 13 days.

Alarmed by the situation, the Gujarat Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister had decided to visit the city on Saturday.