GUWAHATI, June 1 - Thirty air passengers who arrived from Kuwait were among those who tested positive for coronavirus today, taking the State�s COVID-19 tally to 1,463. The repatriation flight from Kuwait under the Vande Bharat Mission had arrived at Borjhar here on May 29.
One of the positive cases was in a tea garden in Tinsukia district, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, adding that it was a cause of worry. The patient at Tongonagaon Tea Estate had a travel history of Arunachal Pradesh.
As many as 99 patients were discharged today after their successive tests were negative for the virus. Altogether 46 patients were discharged from Kalapahar hospital, 22 from MMCH, 13 from TMC, seven from JMCH, two from FAAMCH, eight from SMCH and one from AMCH. �Maximum of the patients will be discharged in the next three days,� Sarma said.
Around 1,500 returnees who completed institutional quarantine at various centres in Guwahati were also released for home quarantine today.
Meanwhile, a new testing lab was inaugurated by the Health Minister on the premises of the Institute of Advanced Study in Science & Technology at Baragaon in the city. Sarma said the microbiology lab is a unique collaboration between GMCH and IASST. �It shall bolster our Covid testing by 1,000 per day,� he said.
All the equipment and space has been given by the IASST, besides a section of manpower. The GMCH will also provide microbiologists for the lab.
�This lab will be dedicated for those returning by air and returnees registering at the Sarusajai quarantine centre,� Sarma added.
