Toll in COVID-19 rises to 234 in Assam

The seven deceased are from Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Cachar, Kamrup, Sonitpur and Kamrup Metropolitan districts, Sarma tweeted. The persons affected included a 77-year-old from Kamrup Metropolitan district, which primarily cinsists of the Guwahati city.

The toll in Assam due to the pandemic rose to 234 with seven more succumbing to it, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. The seven deceased are from Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Cachar, Kamrup, Sonitpur and Kamrup Metropolitan districts, Sarma tweeted.

The persons affected included a 77-year-old from Kamrup Metropolitan district, which primarily cinsists of the Guwahati city. The others are a 77-year-old and a 60-year old from Dibrugarh district the fourth one is a 46-year old man from Jorhat, Sarma said.

Three more persons aged 63 years, 55 years and 60 years of age lost their lives in Cachar, Kamrup and Sonitpur districts respectively, he added. A 57-year old police personnel, who was suffering from both cancer and COVID-19, died. But it was not included in the tally of COVID-19 because of comorbidity.

With the seven more deaths the toll has gone upto 234, the minister said. Sarma had earlier said that several hundred more COVID-19 patients, including nine police personnel, have died.

But the government's Death Audit Board has not included them in the tally of deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus as they had other ailments too. In a separate tweet, Sarma said that the positivity rate has remained constant around five per cent and there is no exponential growth.

On Friday night Assam had recorded a total 87,908 cases of COVID-19, of which 23,459 have been reported from Guwahati city alone, officials said. So far, 65,596 people have recovered and were discharged from various Covid Care Centres and hospitals across the state, while 22,082 patients are still under treatment, they said.