A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: The community contagion of COVID-19 pandemic continues at several places of Lakhimpur district due to the dereliction on the part of a section of people with regard to maintaining COVID appropriate behaviour. As a result of it, the pandemic situation has worsened in the district day after day with the spike in the number of novel coronavirus infected people.
Amid such a situation, the pandemic has taken away two more lives in the district. One of them has been identified as Mahesh Rathi (30), son of Gopal Rathi, resident of Ward No. 9 of North Lakhimpur town. He succumbed to COVID-19 at Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH), Dibrugarh on Sunday morning. The demise of the youth, who was popular among the people for his amiable behaviour and helping attitude, has cast a pall of gloom in the area.
The other person has been identified as Meera Devi (68), who was an inhabitant of Bihpuriya. She breathed her last on Sunday due to novel coronavirus infection at North Lakhimpur Civil Hospital (NLCH). In the meantime, their mortal remains were cremated following COVID-19 protocol. With these two fatalities, the number of people who succumbed to COVID-19 during the second wave of the pandemic contagion has increased to 14 since April 1 of the current year.
On the other hand, a total of 134 fresh COVID-19 cases were detected in the district on Monday as per the result of Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted across the district. It is the highest figure regarding the detection of novel coronavirus infected people in the district during the second wave of the contagion till date. Prior to it, a total of 117 COVID-19 patients were detected on May 7 while 113 people were found positive for COVID-19 on May 8. The former is second largest detection of COVID-19 patients while the later was third till date during the current wave of the pandemic.
On Monday, a total of 1,656 people underwent the RAT conducted by the District Health Department in eight COVID-19 test centers across the district, including North Lakhimpur Urban Hospital, Lakhimpur Medical College and Hospital Respiratory Clinic and other six Block Primary Health Centres (BPHCs). Out of them, the detected cases were reported from North Lakhimpur Urban Hospital (3), Dhalpur BPHC (22), Bihpuriya BPHC (17), Naoboicha BPHC (23), Boginadi BPHC (51), Ghilamora BPHC (1), Dhakuakhana BPHC (6) and Lakhimpur Medical College and Hospital Respiratory Clinic (11). On this day, the Health Department of the district registered 62 per cent achievement in the detection of COVID-19 patients out of the targeted figure 2,790.
With these fresh patients, the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases of the district has surged to 9,340 since April 4 of last year. Out of them, 8,505 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals and home quarantine while there are 762 active cases in the district at present. On Monday, 8 recovered patients were discharged from institutional isolation while 45 recovered patients were discharged from home isolation. A total of 1,236 people of the district tested positive for COVID-19 during the second wave of the contagion since April 1 of the current year.