GUWAHATI, June 17 - With 184 new positive cases reported today, the State�s COVID-19 tally shot up to 4,694, even as 231 patients were discharged from various hospitals in the last 24 hours.
While 2,642 COVID-19 patients have recovered till date, the number of active cases, as per the latest update, stands at 2,041.
Of the 184 cases reported today, 30 are from Baksa, 27 from Jorhat and 22 from Golaghat. The remaining cases were detected in Hailakandi, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Dhemaji, Barpeta, Cachar, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Udalguri, Dima Hasao, Biswanath and Sonitpur.
Further, as many as 15 new positive cases were also reportedly detected in Kamrup (Metro) today.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the launch of the Assam Targetted Surveillance Programme (ATSP) has further stepped up the COVID-19 testing and that the overall testing figure has reached 2,35,214 of which 8,000 tests were done on Wednesday itself.
As part of the ATSP, which was launched today, random samples were collected from people at the parking lots along the national highway in Guwahati. Under the programme that aims to cover to the vulnerable population, 50,000 tests for COVID-19 will be conducted in Guwahati.
Earlier, the minister inaugurated a testing lab at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, which is the eighth such set-up under medical colleges and 12th overall in the State.
Meanwhile, as per the health department SOP, several categories of inbound air passengers have been exempted from institutional quarantine provided they are asymptomatic. These include husband and wife who are travelling to the State together; husband, wife and their children travelling to Assam together; and husband, wife and their parents travelling together.
The exemptions will, however, not be applicable if the flight in which the person has travelled has been found to have a high incidence of COVID-19 positive cases or has been contaminated in some way.
Meanwhile, the Kamrup Chamber of Commerce has asked all business establishments to down their shutters by 5 pm in view of the spike in positive cases in Kamrup (Metro). The trade body requested the shops to operate from 9 am to 5 pm from Monday to Saturday.
