Officials confirm coronavirus transmission in Guwahati, 1 more dies of Covid-19

GUWAHATI: One more person died of Covid-19 in Assam on Sunday, taking the toll in the state to 10, as top health officials confirmed transmission of the novel coronavirus in Guwahati, with greater Guwahati reporting more than half of the total confirmed cases in the state during the day.
The confirmation comes a day after TOI had reported that the state was flattening the curve, even as Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had cautioned that a conclusion could only be drawn only after the community surveillance.
Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) superintendent Abhijit Sarma said a woman (61) from the city's Pandu was brought dead to the hospital on Sunday. Later, she was found coronavirus positive. Another patient, who was from the city's Athgaon area, died at the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital, but officials are yet to ascertain the cause of death.
While 133 Covid-19 positive cases were confirmed across the state on Sunday, Guwahati alone had 73 positive cases. National Health Mission (NHM) Assam director Lakshmanan S said the situation in Guwahati was "alarming" and the health department was expecting strong containment orders from the district authorities.
"Seventy-three positive cases in a single day is a huge number. These are all evidence of presence of the disease (Covid-19) in the community. Transmission is happening in the community in Guwahati," Lakshmanan told TOI.
Even as the health department has not officially declared "community spread" in Assam yet, NHM insiders said a total assessment about the travel history of the positive cases has to be completed before coming to a conclusion on "community spread" of the virus.
In the last 5-10 days, the health department has repeatedly said they were worried about transmission in the city. "In the given scenario in Guwahati, hopefully the Kamrup (Metropolitan) deputy commissioner will come out with a strong containment order," he added.
"The disease is there in the community and that's why we are getting the positive cases. Similar spread of disease has been seen in Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and hundreds of places. Guwahati is not an exception. However much we may try, unless the public behaves (responsibly), there is no way to stop this," Lakshmanan said.
Many people in Guwahati have voluntarily given their swab samples for testing. Lakshmanan said in medical terms, "community spread" refers to 50% of the identified cases without any history of contact or travel.