Assam reports 365 new COVID-19 cases; total mounts to 9,799

As many as 365 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam on Friday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 9,799, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

As many as 365 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam on Friday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 9,799, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Of the new cases, 134 were reported from Guwahati city, which falls under Kamrup (Metro) district, where a complete lockdown has been imposed for 14 days from June 28.

Taking to Twitter, Sarma said, "365 new #COVID19+ cases detected today. Out of total cases today, 134 were reported from Guwahati City. Take proper precautions and care to stay safe." The state had detected 479 new cases on Thursday. The single-day highest of 613 cases in the state were detected on June 30. Guwahati city, where the situation has been described as critical by the minister, has reported 2,114 positive cases since June 24.

Meanwhile, 221 more patients were discharged from various hospitals on Friday, taking the total number of discharged patients to 6,327 in Assam. "Glad to share that 221 more patients have been discharged today from various civil, district and model hospitals in Assam. Stay fit stay safe," Sarma said.

Of the total 9,779 COVID-19 positive cases in the state, 3,455 are active, 14 have died and three have migrated. Meanwhile, the state government started a plasma bank at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) on Friday, with the first donor being a convalescent doctor, Sarma said.

The donor is the first doctor to test positive in the state at the GMCH and he donated his plasma after the facility became functional on Friday. "Glad to share that we've started a #PlasmaBank at GMCH. The first convalescent donor is a doctor himself, a #COVID19 patient", the minister tweeted.

Sarma interacted with COVID-19 positive patients on Friday evening at the GMCH following complaints on social media regarding alleged negligence towards the patients by doctors and health workers. "In view of a systematic campaign to malign Assam government's efforts on #COVID19 management and feed false narratives, I personally visited COVID ward at GMCH and met over 40 recovering patients, who expressed satisfaction", he tweeted. Sarma also reviewed the arrangements at the COVID care hospitals at IIT, Guwahati, which has 800 beds, and the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre here, which has been converted to a 450-bed facility.

The state has tested 4,38,882 samples so far. At present, there are 15,034 people in institutional quarantine and 1,28,506 are being tracked in home quarantine, according to the daily bulletin of the Health department.

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