Guwahati, Jan 4: Assam has witnessed a surge in daily COVID-19 cases, with health department authorities expressing concern over detection of the virus among foreign travellers to the state over the past few days.
The state reported 351 COVID-19 positive cases and two fatalities on Monday as against 156 cases on Sunday with the overall positivity percentage increasing sharply from 0.79 percent to 0,96 cases in a day. Kamrup (Metro) too has seen a spike with 164 cases reported on Monday as against 78 cases the previous day.
According to reports, 29 foreign travellers tested COVID-19 positive in Assam between December 1 and 30, 2021.
The number of positive cases among air passengers to the state has also seen a sudden surge since Saturday. Reportedly, 18 such passengers tested positive for the virus on Monday.
Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) superintendent Abhijit Sarma, while expressing concern over the increasing number of international travellers during the festive season, said that while no Omicron case has been detected in Assam so far, there is a need to take precautions by adhering to COVID appropriate behaviour.
“Currently, 67 COVID patients are admitted in GMCH of which seven patients are in the ICU. Some have requested home quarantine as well. But people have to be cautious and must understand the importance of COVID tests and wearing masks the right way as Omicron spreads very fast,” Sarma said.
The GMCH superintendent further said that even after two doses of the COVID vaccine, one can get infected…but the severity of the infection will be less. However, the situation is different for vaccinated people with co-morbid conditions as an infection might lead to complications,” he said
On New Year’s Eve, 192 cases were reported against 24,817 tests with an overall positivity rate of 0.77 percent while 150-cases were reported on New Year’s Day against 19,602 tests with an overall positivity rate of 0.77 percent.
Active COVID cases in Assam stand at 1270 cases till Monday evening, with the only new restriction in place being the imposition of a night curfew from 11.30 am to 5 am, which was however relaxed on December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2022.
The state has since Monday rolled out the COVID-19 vaccination campaign for the 15-18 years age category across 500 schools with reportedly about 75,000 doses administered on the first day of the drive.