A day after the State recorded the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said almost 1,400 people had tested positive in Guwahati in eight days since June 24.
The State had on Tuesday recorded 613 positive cases, the highest ever. Of these, 382 were from Guwahati which has been under total lockdown from June 28 midnight.
The 14-day lockdown ends on July 12 but would be reviewed within a week for possible relaxations.
“In Guwahati 1,212 persons tested positive from June 24 to 30. If we add the 157 cases detected on Wednesday, the number is close to 1,400,” Dr. Sarma told journalists on Wednesday.
“The situation in Guwahati is critical and we are closely monitoring the situation,” he said, adding that the lockdown in the city has been stricter than the earlier restrictions.
State Helpline numbers for COVID-19
The Minister also said the State government has decided to follow the recommendations of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for introducing a new testing model in the city on July 3. The new model is expected to deliver test results within an hour unlike the 3-7 days the existing model takes.
“The testing model named Q COVID-19 AG is a positive development for us,” he said.
Fourth laboratory to isolate SARS-CoV-2 virus
The ICMR’s Regional Medical Research Centre at Lahowal in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh has become the fourth laboratory in the country to isolate the SARS-CoV-2 virus in their BSL-3 lab. The isolation is a step toward developing a vaccine.
Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India
The others to have done this are the National Institute of Virology in Pune, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and the Bharat Biotech, both in Hyderabad.
Till noon on Wednesday, Assam recorded 8,547 COVID-19 positive cases with 2,885 of them active.
Dr. Sarma underlined the “brighter side” — the recovery rate of 66%, translating into the discharge of 5,647 people so far.
State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates
So far, 12 people have died of infection, the last being a 50-year-old man who was brought dead to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on June 22. His swab sample came out positive on Tuesday.
A person each has died in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.
Tripura has recorded the second highest positive cases. Of the 1,388 cases, 1,086 have recovered. Manipur follows with 1,234 cases, 553 among them having been discharged.
Nagaland (459 cases), Arunachal Pradesh (191) and Mizoram (160) are the other States to have more than 100 positive persons.