Assam coronavirus update: State reports 15 deaths, 2,891 fresh Covid cases

Fifteen more people died from coronavirus in Assam on Friday as 2,891 fresh cases surfaced, taking the number of infections to 1,21,224, state Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

So far, 345 people have died from the infection in Assam, the minister said, adding that the state reported its highest single-day death toll on Friday.

He said two deaths each were reported from Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Karimganj and Kokrajhar; while the rest took place in Tinsukia, Udalguri, Hojai, Nagaon, Chirang, Kamrup Metropolitan and Jorhat.

Earlier, the state had reported 14 deaths on August 26.

Of the 2,891 fresh cases, 670 surfaced in Kamrup Metropolitan, 232 in Kamrup Rural, 175 in Karimganj and 151 in Dibrugarh, Sarma said.

The new cases were reported out of 39,347 tests conducted during the past 24 hours with the positivity rate of 7.34 per cent, he said.

The total number of tests conducted so far in the state is 24,05,951.

Meanwhile, 2,029 recovered patients were discharged during the day, taking the number of cured people to 92,717, Sarma said.

The minister earlier in the day said the state government was preparing a standard operating procedure (SOP) to implement directives of the Gauhati High Court regarding adherence to COVID protocols issued by the Health Department.

The Gauhati High Court has expressed concern over the rise in cases and has made police and the deputy commissioners personally liable to ensure that the directives and protocols issued by the department to check the spread of COVID-19 are maintained in public places.

The situation in the state is alarming with an average of nearly 3,000 cases daily but the state government cannot impose further lockdowns without the permission of the Union government, the minister said.

The state government had lifted a weekend lockdown and night curfew on Friday though lockdown restrictions will remain in force in containment zones till September 30, Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said.