COVID-19 death toll in Assam rises to 14, total cases reach 8,955

On Thursday, when the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Assam stood at 8,955, a total of 275 patients, who were earlier infected by the virus, were discharged from various hospitals across the state. With the discharge of these patients, the total number of discharged COVID19 cases in the state rose to 6,106.

Guwahati: Two more people have died due to COVID-19 in Assam, taking the death toll to 14, 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 COVID-19 cases in the state has reached 8,955 and of these 3,109 are active cases, 5,831 have been discharged, 14 have died and three migrated out of the state.

Guwahati city has reported 1,742 positive cases 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 spike of 613 cases on June 30 with 380 cases from Guwahati city alone while 548 cases were reported on July 1 including 378 from Guwahati.

The Health 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 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," Sarma tweeted.

Meanwhile, 66 police personnel have so far tested positive and out of which 14 have recovered, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) G P Singh said.

Currently, 1,093 police personnel are under quarantine, he said.

The state health department, following the centre's directive, aims to conduct 10,000 COVID-19 tests daily in Guwahati city with the new model -- COVID-19 AG Test, which is a nasal swab test and the results would be available within an hour.

Around two lakh testing kits have already arrived and the testing is likely to begin from Friday in the 31 COVID screening centres in the city.

The state has so far conducted 4,19,878 tests in 13 government laboratories and some outsourced laboratories.

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.

PTI