GUWAHATI, July 23 - With the total count of COVID-19 cases touching the 30,000 mark, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the State is trying its best to contain the number of cases. �Although the Centre has projected that the State will have around 65,000 infections by August 15, we are trying to keep the count as low as possible. But that would depend upon how the people behave,� the Minister said.
The Minister also informed that the State will soon be able to provide results of up to 20,000 samples within 48 hours.
Meanwhile, the Health Department sources projected that the COVID-19 cases in Guwahati is expected to reach its peak in the next one month or so.� So far over 12,000 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in Guwahati.
The Health Minister while inaugurating the 16th�testing laboratory at the Ayurvedic College, said that with the State Government is planning to set up two more laboratories at Sonapur Civil Hospital and Army�s 51 Sub Area Hospital, Narengi which would enable to provide the test reports within a short time.
The testing laboratory set up at the Department of Moleculor Biology at Ayurvedic College, Jalukbari, by Krishna Diagnostics has been set up as part of the public-private partnership and can facilitate 4,000 tests on a daily basis.
�Heartening to see private sector respond to my call for supporting the Government�s efforts in COVID-19 testing,� the Minister tweeted.
Sarma also inspected the preparedness of the 650-bed COVID care centre at Mirza today. The centre will soon become functional.
As on Wednesday, the overall count of COVID-19 positive cases was 27,744, of which 8,325 are still active. The number of discharged patients as on today stands on 19,350. As on today, 66 persons have lost their lives due to COVID 19.
