GUWAHATI, Aug 3 - Four more COVID-19 patients died today, taking the novel coronavirus toll in the State to 109.
The patients who succumbed today were identified as - Subrata Patra (45) of Kamrup Metro, Haren Mahanta (65) of Sivasagar, Sukendra Kumar Tanti (53) of Tinsukia and Madan Dutta (80) of Dibrugarh.
Meanwhile, Assam government has stepped up its plasma donation campaign with Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma highlighting the encouraging impact of the treatment on COVID patients.
Sarma said that 125 units of plasma have been collected in the State so far.
�So far, 115 COVID-19 positive patients have been given plasma therapy, and out of them, seven have succumbed,� he said.
Pointing to the encouraging results in plasma therapy, Sarma reiterated his appeal to recovered symptomatic COVID-19 patients to come forward for plasma donation.
During the day, he held a discussion with the top military and para-military brass here today to urge them for plasma donors among cured COVID personnel of their forces.
Lt Gen S Dayal, GOC 4 Corps, and senior officials of CAPF were present in the meeting, which was also attended by senior police officers of the State.
The Assam Police has started an initiative among its recovered personnel to donate plasma and over 60 personnel have already done it.
The State has two plasma banks operational currently, one at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital here, and the second at the Tezpur Medical College and Hospital.
On the overall COVID situation in the State, the Minister said though the number of new cases are rising, positivity rate is coming down.
�As we are conducting more tests now, the number of new cases are increasing. But the positivity rate is coming down gradually. The positivity rate for the State is around 5 per cent now,� he said.
�In case of Guwahati, the positivity rate is about 2.5 per cent now. The situation in Guwahati should be under control within 7 to 10 days,� Sarma added.
The overall COVID-19 tally in the State stands at 42,904. Over 32,000 patients have recovered so far, while the number of active cases stands at 10,412.
