1295 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Northeast
Assam COVID-19 tally reaches 936
A dedicated COVID-19 treatment unit was inaugurated at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on Friday amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Assam, where the infection tally has breached the 900-mark, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Of the total 910 coronavirus cases in the state, 794 are active patients. Six patients were discharged from the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Friday, taking the number of recoveries to 109.
Four have succumbed to the disease in the state so far and three have migrated.
Among the 30 new cases, 16 are from Golaghat, six from Karimganj and two each from Lakhimpur, Cachar, Hailakandi and Karbi Anglong, the minister said.
Sarma, after inaugurating the new COVID-19 centre at GMCH, said the Rs 150-crore centrally funded unit is perhaps first-of-its kind in eastern India.
“The new unit at #GMCH is centrally air-conditioned and equipped with 14 Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UGVI) System, which will help in improving indoor air quality and bacteria management. Each bed has dedicated supply of medical gas,” Sarma tweeted.
The unit, housed in a new four-storey building, has 236 beds -- 50 in ICUs and 186 in wards.
“Glad that the Rs 150 crore centrally funded, 4-floor-236-bed (186 ward, 50 ICU) superspeciality block at GMCH is functional and fully converted as a #Covid19 treatment unit for now,” the minister posted on his Twitter handle.
Assam had been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 843 people testing positive for the disease since travel restrictions were lifted on May 4. Prior to that, it had only 42 coronavirus cases.
As many as 523 cases have been detected so far this week.
The biggest single-day spike was recorded on Monday with 156 cases, followed by 139 on Tuesday, 101 on Wednesday and 97 on Thursday.
Sarma said the latest cases could be mostly attributed to those who have recently returned to the state.
The government has mandated that all those coming from outside will have to undergo institutional quarantine. No home quarantine will be allowed for the first seven days, till the test results arrive.
Altogether 86,340 samples have been examined so far, 77,614 of which tested negative for the disease and the results of the remaining are awaited, according to the Health and Family Welfare Department.
As of date, there are 46 containment zones in Assam.
A total of 13 flights are scheduled to operate to and from the Lokopriyo Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport on Friday, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson said.
6 more test positive for COVID-19 in M’laya
Six more returnees, including two females on Friday tested positive for Novel Coronavirus in the Meghalaya, taking the toll number of active cases to 14 , a health official said.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed that the six residents included three from South West Garo Hills, and one each from West Garo Hills, East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills.
“They had come from Maharashtra, Bangalore, West Bengal and Chennai. All are under quarantine and are asymptotic,” Sangma tweeted.
West Khasi Hills and South West Garo Hills are the two newest districts, which have recorded COVID-19 positive cases.
With these latest detection, Meghalaya has recorded 27 COVID-19 cases, of which 12 have recovered, one died and eight active and seven remain active and under treatment.
Meanwhile, samples of 7,304 individuals have been sent for testing, out of which 6,899 reported negative while test results of 420 samples are awaited.
The first positive case was detected on April 13, but the patient, who was a physician died just after two days after he infected with the virulent virus.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong informed that till Friday, 10,655 stranded residents have returned to the state from various parts of the country.
“174 stranded residents from Delhi travelling by Sharmik special train is scheduled to arrive in the State on Friday. Special trains from Kerala with 352 citizens are expected to arrive on Saturday and 99 citizens from Goa is scheduled to reach the State on May 31,” he told journalists in his daily briefing.
For State residents who are stranded in Mumbai and Pune, Tynsong said, “Talks are on with the Maharashtra government to finalise dates for bringing back the stranded citizens via special trains.”
Asked if the government plans to arrange special flight to evacuate the stranded citizens from Maharashtra, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “The problem is with us (government), we cannot bear the entire expenditure. I think those stranded friends will also be dependable for flight fare on us. But if they are willing to travel by flight on their own they can always returned to the state.”
“We have already paid Rs 3000 each to stranded students earlier. Therefore, as of today, we will provide special trains the fares for which are being paid by the state government,” Tynsong informed. Correspondent
3 more fresh COVID-19 cases in Manipur
Manipur reported three more new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 58.
Of the 58 cases, 53 were active cases currently treated at the dedicated Covid hospitals. There are 25 actives cases undergoing treatment in RIMS hospital and 28 in JINMS hospital, official source said on Friday.
As per the source, all three new cases (all males) were from Imphal West district and have been admitted at the COVID care facility of RIMS hospital.
Spokesperson of COVID-19 Common Control Room, Dr Khoirom Sasheekumar Mangang added that the conditions of all the fresh cases are stable and all containment measures and contact tracing were in place.
On the other hand, a total of 3590 state natives stranded returned to the state on Friday. Among them 2,975 arrived by two special trains and 515 by three flights landed at Imphal airport.
Another 206, including five foreigners stranded in the state due to the COVID-19 lockdown, left by air for Delhi and Guwahati on Friday.
Correspondent