GUWAHATI: Alarming daily upsurge in Covid cases has become a matter of concern in many states, but Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said there is no possibility of going back to lockdown days in the poll-bound state now.
Though less than 0.1% positive cases are being reported for quite some time in the state, the health department is carrying out 15,000-16,000 tests per day. The department said this vigil has been remarkable in bringing down the number of cases.
As the gateway to the northeast, the Assam government has been on its toes for months to arrest the spread. Covid screening at airports and major railway stations have contributed immensely to filtering out positive cases. In addition to this is adherence to home and institutional isolation rules, which has brought down daily positive cases below 25 for the last one week.
“A few cases hovering around 20 per day may continue to be reported. When we did not impose lockdown there were 3,500 cases per day. There is absolutely no need to panic. And there is no question of a lockdown now,” Sarma said on Tuesday.
“When there are fewer cases in the state, the chance of spreading is also less. Throughout the pandemic Assam has recorded less number of cases,” said the director of the National Health Mission, Assam, Lakshmanan S.
He said the substantially higher number of tests and low positivity for a prolonged period is evident that the state does not have a large number of hidden cases.
“Many asymptomatic Covid cases, however, may not have been reported. But one thing is certain that transmission is not happening in Assam at an alarming rate,” Lakshmanan added, urging everyone, showing symptoms and having a history of coming into contact with positive patients, to get tested.
All travellers have to show their valid negative report or go through mandatory tests at all airports in the state and major railway stations. Assam is going to the polls soon and under the circumstances, social distancing may not be maintained in public places because campaign has gathered speed.
Health expert and director of medical education Anup Kumar Barman said till date, the reason behind fewer cases has been attributed to timely isolation of positive cases. “Detected cases are isolated fast. Home isolation and institutional isolation is followed properly as per the SOP in Assam,” he said.
On Monday, 14 new cases were detected across the state but 18 patients were discharged as well on the same day. With only 256 active cases in the state at present, the daily cases are being reported from only two to three districts in the last one week. If compared to the situation a week before, the number of active cases has declined from 258 (reported on February 16) and the recovery rate has been as high as 98.76%.
Kamrup (Metropolitan) has recorded the highest number of cases in the last couple of days.