Guwahati: Two more persons died due to COVID-19 in Assam, taking the death toll to 14, while the total number of positive cases moved towards the 9,000-mark, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.
Two male patients, a 78-year old and another 56-year old and both with comorbidities, have succumbed to the disease, he said.
“With heavy heart, I share this with you all — We’ve lost two precious lives to the pandemic. My prayers and condolences are with the families,” the minister tweeted.
The total number of coronavirus patients in the north eastern state remained at 8,955.
Meanwhile, 275 patients have been cured and released from various hospitals in the state, taking the total number of discharged patients to 6,106 with a recovery rate of 68 per cent, Sarma said.
“Glad to share that 275 patients have been discharged today from various civil, district and model hospitals in Assam. Recovery rate – 68 per cent,” he tweeted
Of the total 8,955 positive cases, there are 2,832 active cases, 6,106 have been discharged, 14 have died and three migrated out of the state.
The situation in Guwahati city has turned critical with 1,742 positive cases reported since June 24 and a complete lockdown has been imposed for 14 days since June 28 to contain the spread of the disease.
The state reported the single-day highest of 613 cases on June 30 with 380 cases from Guwahati city alone, while the second highest tally of 548 was reported on July one with 378 cases from Guwahati.
Meanwhile, 275 patients have been cured and released from various hospitals in the state, taking the total discharged patients to 6,106 at a recovery rate of 68 per cent, the Minister said.
The Minister said that the state health department has acquired two lakh ‘Rapid Point of Card Antigen Detection Test kits’, the new tool approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research for quick diagnosis of COVID-19 in the screening centres.
“In a shot in the arm to our efforts to test, track and treat #COVID19 patients, I am so glad to share that we’ve got two lakh Rapid Point of Care Antigen Detection Test kits, a new tool approved by @ICMRDELHI for quick diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in field settings,” the minister tweeted.
A demo of the kit was held at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital and it gives immediate results, has moderate sensitivity but high specificity, Sarma said.
“In #Guwahati where the spread is rapid, we shall deploy one lakh kits. This, coupled with ongoing gold standard RT-PCR tests, further sharpens our testing abilities,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the state has so far conducted tests of 4,28,886 samples with the results of nearly four lakh samples uploaded so far on the webiste covidassam.in
In Guwahati city alone, 8,988 tests were done on Thursday as part of the endeavor to test and trace COVID-19 patients.
“Spread in Guwahati is fast, yet we’re trying our best to contain it. Appreciate your cooperation during the reimposed #lockdown as we strive to work for #CovidFreeAssam,” he tweeted.
The minister held a meeting with the authorities of private hospitals in Guwahati and asked them to set up specialised facilities and dedicated teams for COVID-19 management.
“In view of the rising number of cases, and likely further escalation, we held a meeting with all private hospitals in Guwahati and instructed them to set up specialised facility and dedicated teams for #COVID19 management,” the minister tweeted.
Meanwhile, 95 police personnel have so far tested positive and out of them, 19 have recovered so far, Additional Director General of Police (Law) G P Singh said.
Meanwhile, at present, there are 17,652 people in institutional quarantine and 1,24,947 in home quarantine, according to the bulletin of the health and welfare department.