Our thrust is on strengthening of the quarantine system, says Himanta

* Corona positive cases rise to 2,473

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The total number of COVID-19 cases in Assam was 23 on May 6. And on June 6, exactly after a month, the number of such cases is 2,473. On the positive side, the number of patients who died of COVID-19 in the State is just 4. Another good sign is that even as the number of corona cases is rising fast, there is no community transmission of the virus in the State. Most of the positive cases detected in the State are among people who returned from other States.

As many as 1.35 lakh swab samples have been tested in the State till now, besides the screening of around 9 lakh people – 1.80 lakh in railway stations, around 52,000 in airports, 72,000 in zonal screening centres and 5.35 lakh random screening. In sync with the rise in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the State Health department is also making ready additional treatment facilities.

State Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "We've been constantly trying to strengthen the capability of the healthcare system in the districts. In this trying time, we must ensure a high level of preparedness and resilience in order to contain the pandemic."

The Health department in the State had started its fight against COVID-19 with just one testing laboratory. Now the department has seven such laboratories. The RMRC Regional Medical Research Centre, NE region, located at Lahowal in Dibrugarh has tested 25,000 COVID related tests so far. Now the laboratories in the State can test over 1,000 tests per day.

Minister Sarma further said, "Corona positive cases are rising, so is the number of patients being discharged from hospitals after their recovery. The death toll due to corona is only four. While two of the four dead were cancer patients as well, corona infection of two others were detected only after their death. We've fared much better than other States in controlling death due to COVID-19."

When viewed from the angle of active cases in the State, Dhubri district tops the list with 233 cases, followed by Golaghat with 174 cases, Hojai with 158 cases, Kamrup (M) with 135 cases and Kamrup with 96 cases till date.

The Minister added, "Our thrust is on strengthening of the quarantine system. This is the only way to prevent community transmission of the virus. Our slogan is – 'Ruthless Quarantine with a Human Heart'. We've also launched the 'COVID Suraksha App' for monitoring the activities of people in home quarantine. The App lets us know as and when a person in institutional or home quarantine goes 150 metres away from the quarantine centre. It further helps us in checking violation by people in quarantine centres. The corona virus has taught us the virtue of isolation for breaking the chain. Isolation centres have immensely helped our efforts to contain COVID-19.

"We needn't worry over the detection of a few corona positive cases here without nay travel history, since there has been no spread of the virus from them. Most of the cases detected are among people who have come to Assam from other States after May 4."

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