COVID-19: 735 new cases reported in Assam, tally rises to 16,806

Four more COVID-19 patients have died and 735 new cases pushed the tally in Assam to 16,806 on Sunday, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Four more COVID-19 patients have died and 735 new cases pushed the tally in Assam to 16,806 on Sunday, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. A total of 41 COVID-19 patients have died in the state so far. The fresh deaths will be officially added to the state's coronavirus toll, only after the Death Audit Board ascertains whether the "underlying cause of death is COVID-19", he said.

"The Assam government has constituted a four-member Death Audit Board for #COVID19 in accordance with @ICMRDELHI guidelines. Officially a death will be attributed to #Covid_19 only after the Board has ascertained it. We shall update our figures accordingly", the minister tweeted. A 36-year old man died at the Jorhat Medical College Hospital while three others, including two women, passed away at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Sarma said.

He said the 36-year old COVID-19 positive patient with no history of comorbidities suffered a sudden onset breathing difficulty in the morning and lost the fight against the disease in the afternoon. Among the others who died are two women, aged 40 and 55, hailing from Guwahati, while the third patient was a 63-year-old man from Nagaon, and they succumbed to their critical infections in the COVID-ICU of the GMCH, he said.

The minister said that 735 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state with 400 of these in Guwahati alone. The total number of cases in Guwahati city has crossed 7,031 since June 24.

The 14-day lockdown imposed in the Kamrup Metropolitan district, under which Guwahati falls, was extended by a week till July 19 from 6 pm on Sunday. The number of recovered patients has increased to 10,894 with 468 patients discharged from various hospitals in the state on Sunday, he said.

"Our good recovery rate is a sign that we can definitely combat the pandemic. Just hold on and don't panic", the minister tweeted. Of the total 16,806 cases in the state, there are 5,873 active cases, 36 deaths, 10,894 have recovered and three migrated out of the state, Sarma said.

The state has so far tested 5,52,376 samples, he said. Meanwhile, AIUDF MP from Dhubri, Badruddin Ajmal, has been admitted to a hospital in Mumbai after a “mild dip in oxygen saturation level”, he said.

"AIUDF Chief, MP Dhubri @BadruddinAjmal is admitted at a Mumbai hospital after a mild dip in his oxygen saturation level. I am in constant touch with his family and monitoring his health. I join all in wishing him speedy recovery," Sarma tweeted. The minister said he has also spoken to BJP MLA from Sadiya, Bolin Chetia, and former Congress MP from Silchar, Sushmita Dev, both of whom have tested positive for COVID-19.

"Former MP and friend @sushmitadevinc is under treatment at SMCH, Silchar, after having tested positive for #COVID. Another friend and colleague, MLA Bolin Chetia, also tested COVID positive and is under treatment at Tinsukia Civil Hospital. I am monitoring their health and also spoke to both of them," Sarma tweeted. Chetia became the third legislator in the state to test positive for COVID-19. Earlier, two other BJP MLAs – Krishnendu Paul from Patharkandi and Borkhetri’s Narayan Deka –contracted the disease, besides All India Mahila Congress President and former Silchar MP Sushmita Dev.

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi, National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) leader Ranjan Daimary and 53 other inmates of the Guwahati Central Jail tested positive for the infection on Saturday. The prison has been declared a containment zone. Gogoi was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December last year.

More than 100 writers of Assam on Sunday in an open letter to the Chief Minister demanded that Gogoi and his associates be provided with proper medical treatment and that all political protestors allegedly involved in the anti-CAA stir be released immediately.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)