Coronavirus picture in Assam will become clearer by August 15: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Assam finance and health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the State Government shall have a "clearer picture" in regards to the coronavirus outbreak by August 15 next.

"Despite conducting so many tests, the COVID-19 positivity rate in the state has remained below 5 %; this points to the fact that as far as the peak is concerned we are either heading in the right phase or have put the worst of the COVID-19 behind us", Sarma, who has been at the forefront of the battle against the contagion in the state, told media persons here today.

"We shall have to wait for a few days. After August 15, we will have a clear picture in which direction we are heading as far as the COVID-19 scene in Assam is concerned", the minister further added.

The minister has also stated that the death rate in Assam remains quite low (0.24%) in comparison to the national and international averages. The state has so far reported 155 deaths due to the COVID-19.

Amid efforts to ramp up testing he Assam state health department, going forward, is also planning to conduct a minimum of 1 lakh tests each month. Meanwhile, Assam has so far performed 14,20,691 COVID1-19 tests to date, Sarma affirmed, adding that 15 lakh tests will be completed by the end of today. "Our per million tests have risen to 41,000 and I am certain the figure shall rise to 45,000 today", Sarma further added.

Meanwhile, the number of recovered COVID-19 patients in Assam has reached 45,073 with the discharge of 1487 more patients from different hospitals and COVID-19 care centres across the state on Tuesday, August 11. While Assam has reported a total of 64,406 cases; the active case count in the state now stands at 19,175.

Also Watch: Newsmakers: Sizal Agarwal, 112 Rank Holder, UPSC 2019 with Oineetom Ojah