Guwahati, Jan 19: Registering its highest single-day spike since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, Assam logged 8,072 Covid cases on Tuesday which has been pushed the state’s tally to 6,61,789. The previous highest number of new cases on a single day were reported on Monday when 6,982 people tested positive.
The worrying rise in Covid cases has largely been seen after Christmas, New Year, and Bihu celebrations in Assam.
State nodal officer for Covid Dr. Basanta Hazarika said that “The rise in cases could be because of overcrowding during Bihu and other festivals in Assam. With Omicron being highly transmissible, people need to avoid gatherings and crowding.”
Assam’s positivity rate- the number of cases detected per 100 tests- which stood at 10.75% on Monday rose to 12.62% yesterday, a major concern for the state where the number of active cases currently stands 29,560.
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Guwahati reported around 2,000 of the total cases reported yesterday with which the positivity rate in Assam’s largest city stands at an all-time high of 20.62% with nearly 9,000 active Covid cases. Other major Covid hotspots in the state include Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat, and Silchar.
Although Covid hospitalizations in the state have not increased with the rise in cases, 16 related deaths were recorded yesterday- almost an eight-fold increase since January 11. The death count in the state stands at 6,233.
Currently, the state does not have a complete lockdown to curb the spread of Covid but unvaccinated people are barred from entry into public places.
