159 new COVID-19 cases reported in Assam; state tally at 1,216
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Assam surged to 1,216 after 159 people, including 20 air travellers, across districts tested positive for the disease, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. Of the total cases, currently, 1,046 affected persons are receiving treatment in the state, while 163 patients have so far recovered from the infection, four have succumbed to the viral disease and three have migrated out of the state.
"Alert -- 31 new cases of COVID-19. 20 Air travellers, Morigaon 11," the minister added.
Earlier during the day, Sarma said samples of 128 persons from across the districts tested positive.
Kokrajhar and Chirang reported 26 cases, 20 in Hailakandi, 13 each in Kamrup and Dibrugarh, nine in Jorhat, seven in Golaghat, five in Dhubri, three in Barpeta, two in Cachar and one in Bongaigaon, he said.
The minister said 29 people have tested positive for coronavirus but the districts to which they belong are yet to be ascertained.
In a separate tweet, he said 38 patients have recovered from the disease and discharged from hospitals after their samples tested negative twice.
These include 14 at Silchar Medical College and Hospital, 11 at Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital, eight at Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, three at Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, and two at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
On Friday, Assam had crossed the 1,000-mark in COVID-19 cases with a single day highest tally of 177 new patients.
Earlier, Sarma said a CSIR-NEIST COVID-19 testing laboratory will be functional in Jorhat district of Upper Assam.
After inter-state movement through road, rail and air communication was allowed during the lockdown, Assam saw manifold rise in COVID-19 cases.
To screen all the people coming from outside the state, the government has imposed a mandatory institutional quarantine policy for everyone, barring some exceptions.
Assam has so far tested 1,01,257 samples for COVID-19 in seven laboratories in Assam, NIV in Pune, and Lal Path Lab and Core Lab in New Delhi, the state Health and Family Welfare Department said in its daily bulletin.
(With PTI Inputs)
