GUWAHATI, April 26 - Eight more cured COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals today, bringing down the number of active cases in the State to seven.
Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said four patients were discharged from Golaghat�s Swahid Kushal Konwar Civil Hospital, while another four were discharged from MMCH in Guwahati.
�With this, the recovery rate in Assam has touched 77 per cent. However, the first COVID-19 patients of the State � currently under treatment at Silchar Medical College Hospital � has not yet recovered, and is repeatedly showing positive for the virus,� Sarma said.
Till date, 7,616 sample tests have been conducted in the State. While 35 were positive, the results of 209 are awaited. The rest were negative.
The minister informed that random tests have begun today at three locations of Dhubri district.
�The samples are being collected scientifically, touching a cross-section of people. By tomorrow evening we will know if there is any instance of community transmission,� he said.
Sarma claimed that the State has so far been �successful� in containing the spread of the virus as all the positive cases were detected among people who were already kept in quarantine. �Our containment strategy worked, and we were able to keep the susceptible people in quarantine,� he asserted.
The minister further informed that the State government was keeping a close watch on the Assam-Bengal border so that there is no inter-state movement.
�Besides the two main roads connecting both the states, there are also eight-nine roads through villages. We are keeping a close watch on these roads as well,� he said.
On the rapid test kits, Sarma said the government will follow the ICMR directions and as of now the State is continuing to use them at the government hospitals.
