More people will arrive in Assam from Kerala & Karnataka: Sarma

Team Udayavani, Jun 14, 2020, 8:24 AM IST

Guwahati: Assam may witness a further rise in COVID-19 cases as more people will arrive in the state from Kerala and Karnataka by trains next week, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.
Nearly 25,000 people from Kerala are expected to come in the next few weeks and two trains are scheduled from Bangalore, the minister said while addressing a press conference here.

“After this bulk arrival, there may be further increase in the number of positive cases but maybe it will not be as much as those who came from Maharashtra and Delhi”, Sarma said.

He said that so far 1,73,156 people have returned to the state and of these 68,630 came by train, 65,156 by road and 39,730 by flights. The state has reported a surge in the number of cases since inter-state movement was allowed with the bulk of the positive cases detected so far having a travel history. The state has so far reported 3,718 cases with 25 new cases reported and 200 persons cured and discharged from various hospitals on Saturday, the minister said.

Of the 3,718 cases, eight have died, 1,923 are active cases, 1784 have been discharged and three have migrated out of the state, he said.

The recovery rate of the positive patients have also increased remarkably from 10 per cent last week to 47.98 per cent on Saturday, he claimed. The state has tested 2,01,503 samples till date at a rate of 5,744 tests per million.

“We were hoping to reach the two lakh mark by June 15 but it is indeed remarkable that the target has been achieved earlier than schedule”, the Minister said. He appealed to people not to oppose cremation or burial of those who died due to COVID-19 in crematoriums or burial grounds as was evident in two recent cases in Guwahati on Friday and in Diphu earlier this week.

“The Coronavirus cannot sustain the heat of the flames when a person is cremated or can cause any harm if they are buried. We must show respect to the dead and people can choose to stay away from the last rites but should not obstruct it”, Sarma said.

He also said that protests are being held at different places without proper social distancing and this is a matter of serious concern. “The reasons for the protests may be justified but we have to be careful and people must be careful about maintaining social distancing”, he added.

The minister further said that the state government has so far spent Rs 26 crore on people quarantining at hotels, given Rs eight crore to people in home quarantine and a total of Rs 153 crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of those people from the state who did not return home.

A volunteering network, named ”Manan” of psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical psychologists and counsellors have been formed to help COVID-19 patients and also those in quarantine, Sarma added.