Assam- Assam icon and megastar singer Angaarag Mahanta popularly, known as Papon, urged the people to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols as laid down by the government and wear masks, as the cases of the novel coronavirus is rising with every passing day and spiraling out of control.
Papon made this appeal on Saturday night while he was performing at a Bihu festival organized by Pathsala Rongali Bihu Sanmiloni at Pathsala High Secondary School field in the Bajali district.
The Assam's heartthrob made an appeal to the people while they were enchanted by his mesmerizing performance to wear masks at all costs in public arenas.
Papon said, "After a long time, I have come to Assam. During this COVID19 situation, Assam is safe in compa rison to other states."
He further added by saying, "To save Assam, we have to wear mask. Protect yourself and your family. So, I request all to follow COVID protocols."
Many Bihu Organising Committees had to cancel their already scheduled Bihu events due to the massive spike in the cases of the novel coronavirus all across the state.
Assam's COVID-19 tally mounted to 2,24,455 on April 18 as 639 more people tested positive for the infection, while six fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,135, the National Health Mission (NHM) said. The Kamrup Metro with 354 fresh coronavirus cases becomes the highest COVID-19 contributing district in the state. The six deaths were reported from Barpeta, Cachar, Dhemaji, Kamrup Metropolitan, Morigaon, and Tinsukia district.
Meanwhile, India reported 2,73,810 fresh new Covid-19 cases, making it the fifth straight day that India has recorded more than 2 lakh Covid cases in 24 hours. The highest one-day surge took the total tally of caseload to 1.5 crore mark. There have been 1,619 cases of fatalities reported in the last 24 hours in a new record high taking the total caseload past the 1.5 crore mark. This is the sixth consecutive day that India reported over a thousand daily deaths.