1862 new COVID cases in Assam, 4 deaths

The novel coronavirus cases in Assam crossed the 40,000 mark on Friday with 1,862 more people, including a nine-day-old baby, testing positive, while four more deaths took the toll to 98, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

There are 9,811 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 1,277 more patients have been discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 30,357, Sarma said.

"Alert ~ 1862 #COVID cases detected out of 38324 tests in 24 hrs. Positivity rate - 4.85%," he tweeted.

The maximum number of 281 new cases was reported from Kamrup Metropolitan district, which primarily comprises Guwahati, followed by 202 cases in Kamrup, 140 in Cachar, 129 in Sonitpur, 117 in Dibrugarh, 114 in Nagaon and 105 in Jorhat, Sarma said.

Assam reported a total of 40,269 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 14,974 have been reported from the state capital alone.

A nine-day old girl from Hailakandi district became the youngest person in Assam to test positive for the infection on Friday.

The baby girl has been taken to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital for treatment. The test result of the mother, who gave birth to the baby at home, turned out to be negative, the district spokesperson said.

Four more people, including a woman, died from the pathogen in Hojai, Kamrup Metropolitan, Jorhat and Dibrugarh districts. The total number of fatalities in the state has gone up to 98, Sarma said.

However, seven more COVID-19 patients, including two police personnel, have died, but the government's death audit board has not included them in the tally of deaths caused by COVID-19 as they had other ailments too.

The doubling rate of the cases had increased to 15.6 days on July 30 from 11.9 days on July 15. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients stands at 75.40 per cent, while the fatality rate is 0.24 per cent, the Health Department said.

A total of 9,17,395 samples have been tested, it said.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) G P Singh tweeted that 1,552 personnel from the force had tested positive so far and 1,086 have recovered, 279 rejoined duty and four died.

Sarma said the second plasma bank had become operational at the Tezpur Medical College and Hospital.

The minister applauded Kushal Nath, a storekeeper-cum-clerk, for being the first donor at the TMCH. "His kind act shall inspire many others," Sarma added.

The first such plasma bank in the state is functioning at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.