Assam crosses 3 lakh Covid tests in 3 days again

GUWAHATI: Assam's strategy to test, trace and isolate the virus seemed to have really paid off as the state’s positivity rate has dipped to less than 2%. The state has crossed the 3 lakh-mark for Covid tests in three days on Wednesday — a feat that they have achieved twice in 15 days.
On Monday, 1.07 lakh tests were done out of which 1,521 people were found positive with a positivity rate of 1.41%. The positivity rate further declined to 1.17% on Tuesday when 1.26 lakh Covid tests were carried out across Assam and 1,482 tested positive. On both days, Kamrup (Metro) district had the highest cases at 263 and 285 respectively and the corresponding positivity rate was 1.8% and 1.52%.
On Wednesday, too, the state carried out 1.39 lakh tests and the positivity rate was 1.02%.
“Gives me confidence to share that our positivity rate continues to be very low at 1.17%. However, still we should not lower our guards,” Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted late on Tuesday.

National Health Mission (NHM), Assam’s, executive director, Dr Manoj Choudhury, told TOI, “The perfect observation is that the positivity rate in Assam has come down below two percent and it is gradually decreasing when the figures of the last three days are compared. This is a significant achievement.”
He added that if the absolute number of cases are compared too, it has reduced in the last two days, which is definitely satisfactory news. “In Kamrup Metro district, the number of positive cases has been comparatively higher but here, the number of tests has also increased. Even as the number of positive cases has marginally increased in Kamrup (Metro) on Tuesday, if compared to Monday, the overall positivity rate in the district is better,” Choudhury informed.
Meanwhile, Assam went past the target of 40 lakh Covid-19 tests on Tuesday, as the total number of tests touched the 40,76,126 mark. Himanta, in his tweet on Tuesday night, said that 84.89% of the total infected patients in Assam have recovered.
Out of the 1.96 lakh Covid infected patients, 1.67 lakh have already been discharged. While there were 28,897 active cases in the state, the number of Covid deaths as on Tuesday night was 830.