Assam's COVID-19 tally reaches 28,791 with 1,047 new cases; death toll 70

The COVID-19 tally in Assam reached 28,791 on Thursday with 1,047 more people testing positive for the disease in 24 hours, and the death toll climbed with 70 with four people succumbing to the disease, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The fresh deaths include a person from Jammu and Kashmir. Kamrup Metropolitan district, Karimganj, and Kokrajhar reported one fatality each, he said. The minister said that of the new cases, 219 are from Guwahati city alone.

In a tweet, Sarma said, "1,047 new COVID-19 cases detected in Assam on July 23, with 219 in Guwahati city alone. With 19,000 plus tests in 24 hours, our positivity rate is 5.25 percent." The number of people discharged from healthcare institutions crossed the 20,000-mark with the release of 1,349 patients. The number of recoveries was higher than the number of new cases for the second consecutive day. "In moments like these, such information -- we crossed 20,000 cured patients mark -- brings cheers. Also the second day in a row, our discharge figures are higher than new cases," the health minister tweeted. Among the total cases, 8,019 are active while 20,699 have been discharged and three migrated out of the state.

A woman police constable, posted at Namrup police station in Dibrugarh district, who was suffering from kidney ailments and tested COVID-19 positive, died yesterday, police said. Director-General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta condoled the death of the constable and said all necessary assistance will be extended to the family of the deceased.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) G P Singh said that 1,036 personnel of the force have tested positive till date, out of which three have died, 730 recovered and 98 rejoined duty.

In south Assam's Hailakandi district, an 18-day-old boy has tested COVID-19 positive along with his parents. All of them have been shifted from a COVID Care Centre to a designated COVID hospital, a district administration spokesperson said.

The hospital's superintendent Dr Sudip Kumar Chakrabarty said the condition of the baby was stable. The mother and the baby were being kept at a separate enclosure in the COVID-19 ward. An immunity booster dose was being administered to the mother, he said.

Health minister Sarma said that so far 7,23,287 samples have been tested to detect coronavirus infection, of which 19,913 were done in the last 24 hours alone. "Testing forms the backbone of a robust strategy to deal with COVID-19. With tireless efforts of hundreds of healthcare professionals we've now crossed seven lakh testing figures, a commendable feat," he tweeted.

Assam's 16th testing laboratory, set up in public-private partnership at the Ayurvedic College in Guwahati, was inaugurated by the minister. "Heartening to see private sector respond to my call for supporting government's efforts in COVID-19 testing," he tweeted.