Guwahati vegetable vendor tests COVID-19 positive

Guwahati: A vegetable seller who sells his wares in the Silphukhri area of Guwahati, Assam, has tested COVID-19 positive on Sunday, reports said.

According to reports, the man's swab sample was collected by health personnel on Thursday, three days prior to the detection. However, he did not wait for his result and continued selling vegetables in the area well into Sunday afternoon, when his report came in, and it was revealed that he is a carrier of the contagion.

The Covid-19 positive status of this man has sent shockwaves of fear in the area, as hundreds upon hundreds must have bought vegetables from him amid the panic-buying spree in Guwahati ahead of the 14-day lockdown.

This has come at a time when the city has come under the scanner of the Assam health department amid a meteoric rise in cases without travel history. Yesterday alone, while the entire city was in panic mode amid the need to stock up supplies before the enforcement of strict lockdown, as many as 195 Covid-19 positive cases were detected in the urban agglomeration. Out of those, 120 patients did not have any travel history. Yesterday, another Covid-19 patient also passed away due to virus-related complications in the city, resulting in an overall grim 24 hours for the city.

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 tests in Assam has risen to 7,492, out of which 2,390 cases are active currently. So far, 11 people in the state have died due to complications from the virus.

Meanwhile, India has recorded its biggest surge in the number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours for a second consecutive day with 19,906 new patients, taking the total to 5,28,859 infections, the Union Health Ministry said. The country also witnessed 410 coronavirus-related deaths during the period, taking the total number of casualties due to the virus to 16,095.

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