GUWAHATI, July 5 - At least 2,741 COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in Guwahati in the last ten days, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed today, saying that the city has entered into the �pandemic� stage now. �By and large, all the positive cases were from the community. They do not have any travel history,� he told a press conference.
Yesterday alone, of the total 1,202 cases detected in the State, 782 were in the city where the rapid antigen detection test kits are being used to ramp up the testing and isolate the positive cases as early as possible. Till noon today, 125 positive cases were detected in the city.
�We need to isolate the positive cases fast,� Sarma said, appealing to all to adhere to the lockdown guidelines.
Meanwhile, functioning of the departments at Janata Bhavan here has been restricted after three personnel tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday.
In an order today, the Secretariat Administration department�s commissioner & secretary M Angamuthu said only eleven departments � CM�s Office, Chief Secretary�s Office, Office of the ministers, Home and Political, Revenue and Disaster Management, GAD, SAD, Food and Civil Supplies, Health and Family Welfare, Finance and offices of senior secretaries � will function with skeletal staff from July 6 to 12.
�All senior officers from the rank of Commissioner and Secretary and above will attend office. Other departments can function from their respective directorates or from their field establishments or from home,� the order stated.
Angamuthu told this newspaper that three secretariat staff have tested positive for the virus, necessitating the move. �We are doing complete sanitization of the campus as well as their residential areas,� he added.