Flattening of the COVID-19 curve has officially started in Assam, announces Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Assam's health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that if "vigilance" can be maintained for some more time, the COVID-19 transmission can finally be overcome. The minister also announced that the flattening of the COVID-19 curve has officially begun in Assam.

"If we can retain this kind of an environment, we can be sure that we will be majorly successful in our fight against the COVID-19 virus", Sarma told reporters here today. "The biggest challenge in front of us, as far as the COVID-19 is concerned, is the upcoming Durga Puja. If the prescribed guidelines are followed, I think we will be able to control the outbreak to a great extent."

Sarma added that the number of new COVID cases seems to be showing a declining trend in spite of continued efforts to ramp up testings in order to mitigate the spread of the virus.

"If we go back further back in time, we have even gotten a positivity rate above 9%. After October 6, however, the positivity rate has been declining steadily. This entire week, the number of COVID-19 cases has been showing a declining trend. And yesterday, the positivity rate was a mere 1.4%," Sarma announced in front of media.

The Minister also announced that the absolute number of COVID-19 cases has also come down, with the number of recoveries hitting an all-time high. The number of active cases is now 28,439. The recovery rate has also risen to 85%.

The Minister further added that the number of COVID-19 tests being conducted by the state's health department is also quite high. "This is a great achievement for Assam, as our per million testing rate also remains very high. We have tested 10% of the people. In Guwahati city alone, we have tested above 6 lakh people out of a total population of 10 lakh," he said.

It needs mention here that Assam reported 10 more COVID-19 fatalities taking the death toll to 826 on Monday, while 1,521 new positive cases took the tally to 1,95,304. The COVID-19 spike, meanwhile, is said to be declining in states across the country.

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