Covid-19 & floods claim 19 lives in 24 hours in Assam

GUWAHATI: Assam is battling twin attacks - one a global pandemic and another a natural disaster - both together claiming 19 lives in the last 24 hours. While 10 have died of Covid-19, nine others persished in floods. Over the last 14 weeks, altogether 105 have lost their lives due to the two causes.
On Tuesday, the total fatalities in the pandemic climbed to 46 and the death toll in floods rose to 59. In the last 24 hours, 1001 fresh Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in the state, which has taken the cumulative total to 17807 out which 12173 have already recovered - 757 on Tuesday.
On the other hand, over 32 lakh people have been hit by floods as on Tuesday after 28 of the 33 districts were inundated by all rivers of the state, including the Brahmaputra river.
The first Covid-19 case in the state was reported on March 31 and the current first wave of flood hit the state on May 22.
After few weeks of showing signs of improvement, the flood situation has turned grim again in the last couple of weeks.
The three deaths on Sunday reported by TOI earlier as Covid-19 deaths have not been attributed to the virus as the underlying cause of their death. But the four other deaths on Monday and the six fresh fatalities on Tuesday have been attributed to Covid-19, which means the actual death toll due to virus in the state is now 46. One of the deceased was an associate professor at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital.
Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “In accordance with ICMR guidelines, only those deaths where the underlying cause of death is Covid-19 will be treated as Covid-19 fatality.” He said a four-member Death Audit Board for Covid-19 will ascertain if a death is due to Covid-19.
In the meanwhile, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said floodwaters have inundated 3,371 villages and 128,495 hectares of crop area in 28 districts. A total of 44,108 people have taken shelter in of 517 relief camps.
The worst affected districts are Dhemaji, Udalguri, Darrang, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Baksa, Lakhimpur, Chirang, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Majuli, Dibrugarh, West Karbi Anglong, Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia.
The NDRF and SDRF, together with locals and the administration, have rescued over 7,000 marooned people in various districts.