Doctor dies due to COVID in Assam; tally climbs to 18,666, death toll to 48

Two more persons including a doctor died of COVID-19 in Assam on Wednesday while the tally in the state reached 18,666, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

A 75-year-old doctor, hailing from Tinsukia, passed away at the Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh while the other victim is a 45-year-old woman from Kamrup Metropolitan district, he said.

The Death Audit Board has confirmed both the deaths being due to the underlying cause of COVID-19, taking the death toll to 48 in the state.

The doctor from Tinsukia is the second fatality in the state's medical fraternity due to the infection. Earlier, a 56-year-old doctor, an Associate Professor at the Department of Opthalmology of Gauhati Medical College Hospital, died on Monday.

Assam has so far reported 18,666 COVID-19 cases of which 6,444 are active and 12,713 people have recovered.

Sarma visited the Guwahati Central Jail, where 56 inmates have tested positive, and instructed officials to ensure best medical care, food and other facilities.

"After learning of the spread of #COVID19 in Central Jail, Guwahati I along with health department officials visited the site and reviewed the medical and other facilities," the minister tweeted.

The Kokrajhar district administration has also started random swab sampling of prisoners and jail staff from Wednesday to check spread of COVID-19 in Kokrajhar jail, Additional Deputy Commissioner Pranjal Das said.

Random swab sampling of all the 326 male and female jail inmates and staff of Kokrajhar jail will be done in a phased manner and they have been kept in isolation till collection of their reports.

The Health Minister held a video conference with the Deputy Commissioners, Medical Superintendents and doctors to review the current COVID-9 situation in the state.

"Among others, we analysed the threat perception and discussed if the containment measures are being adhered to in the right spirit," he said.

Assam has so far reported 18,666 coronavirus positive cases. There are 6,444 active cases, 12,713 patients have recovered and three migrated out of the state.

The total number of cases in Guwahati city alone has reached 7,658 since June 24.

The 14-day lockdown imposed from June 28 in Kamrup Metropolitan district, under which Guwahati falls, was extended by a week till July 19 from 6 pm on Sunday.

The state has so far tested 5,75,867 samples.