COVID-19 cases in Assam cross 400-mark

The number of coronavirus cases in Assam rose to 427 on Monday after 35 more people tested positive for the disease, state Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Eighteen cases were reported from Golaghat district, six from Kokrajhar, five from Karimganj, two each from Tinsukia and Sivasagar, and one each from Jorhat and Dhemaji, he said.

Of the total 427 patients in the state, 57 have recovered, while 363 are undergoing treatment. Four people have died due to the disease.

Assam has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases after inter-state movement through road and rail was allowed during the lockdown period.

With domestic flight operations resuming in the country from Monday after a gap of two months, health officials are expecting this spike to be sharper in the coming days.

To screen all the people returning to the state, the administration has set up five zonal screening camps and similar facilities are already existing in the district headquarters and at local levels.

Kokrajhar has the zonal screening camp for lower Assam districts, Tezpur for northern part of the state, Jorhat for upper part, Guwahati for central Assam and Silchar for Barak Valley.

Assam has so far tested 66,444 samples for COVID-19 in seven laboratories in the state and the NIV in Pune, the state Health and Family Welfare Department said in its daily bulletin on Sunday night.