Chief Secretary urges caution as Kamrup (M) sees bump in COVID-19 cases

Guwahati: Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna today urged citizens to be cautious after a sharp spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the Kamrup (M), the worst-hit district in the state, was reported on Monday, August 3.

Presenting the COVID-19 fact sheet for the day, with the updated numbers, the Chief Secretary wrote, "#Covid19 factsheet Assam as of 3rd August,2020 . There is a slight increase in the number of cases in Kamrup (M), so would like to urge everyone to continue taking all the preventive measures and staying safe."

Although the numbers today are higher than the average, they are far less than those predicted by the Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been closely monitoring the situation ever since the virus landed on Assam's shores.

Early this month, the number of COVID-19 cases detected is markedly lesser than the same period last month, when the detection of 500-plus cases on a daily basis in Guwahati had become the norm.

Although it is still early days to predict the trend in the coming months, the lessened number of cases has still emboldened the Government to lift most of the restrictions that were imposed across the city -- such as the reopening of gyms and malls.

At the turn of last month, Sarma had indicated that the Assam Government is prepping for a massive spike in the number of cases, especially in the urban area in Guwahati city.

Terming the COVID-19 trend in Assam as an "elastic situation" in a televised interview, Sarma predicted that the number of cases in Guwahati shall rise by 750-1,000 from August 1 onwards.

Sarma also stated that because the number of COVID-19 cases is expected to rise by 1,000 in Guwahati and 2,000 across Assam on a daily basis in August, the testing infrastructure has to be ramped up significantly.

Due to the Government's push to ramp up the testing infrastructure, the number of tests conducted so far in Assam has reached 10 lakh. Today, the Assam health department conducted its most ambitious testing drive, as it sought to test 50,000 tests in a single day, which is a significant number.

Also Watch: #NewsMakers: Bharat Bhushan Dev Choudhury, Sec. General Administration, Gov. of Assam, Dispur