GUWAHATI: Eight more COVID-19 positive patients in Assam were discharged from hospital on Sunday, taking the total number of such patients discharged to 27 with only seven still undergoing treatment in the state.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, Assam health and family welfare minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said four patients were discharged after from Golaghat Civil Hospital while four other patients were discharged from MMC Hospital here after three to four successive tests for coronavirus.
“Four of the patients belong to Golaghat district, one from Nalbari district while three are from Dhubri district. All the eight patients would be kept under observation for 14 days,” Sarma said.
Altogether, the state had so far reported 35 cases. A 65-year-old patient had expired earlier.
“So Assam currently has only seven active cases even as we expect a majority of them to recover by April 30,” Sarma said.
He however said that the first patient to be detected in the state was still undergoing treatment at Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
The minister said that the discharge and recovery rate in Assam has risen to 77 per cent, which he said was significant and could be attributed to an achievement.
“Besides, we can say that primary transmission of the virus has ended. Significantly, all the positive cases could be confined at the quarantine centre (facility quarantine) so far. However, if tomorrow some case is detected in a village or town/city, then we will have to think of new measures,” Sarma said.
“We have started random sampling of swabs in three places of Dhubri district and by tomorrow we will get an idea as to whether there is any community transmission,” he said.
Sarma also said the Bengal border could be sealed given the rising number of positive cases in that state (Bengal) while the two highways and the small roads connecting the border districts to Bengal would be strictly monitored.
Asked whether any communication was received from the Indian Council of Medical Research to stop rapid antibody tests, the health minister said the state health department would abide by any directive from ICMR.
The state had received 9600 rapid test kits from the Centre recently and the tests started from an apartment (Spanish Garden), where the first patient from Guwahati, who was discharged from GMCH recently and is currently under observation, lives.
“We have given some of the rapid test kits to hospitals and if doctors feel the need to test any patient they may do so till there is any directive from ICMR,” he said.
As many as 7616 sample tests have so far been conducted in the six ICMR-accredited labs in Assam.
“We are self sufficient in terms of equipment. Currently, we have 2.70 lakh personal protective equipment, 52,000 N95 masks and 46 lakh triple layer masks,” he added.27
