GUWAHATI: Assam reported a record 92 deaths due to COVID-19 on Monday, while the number of COVID-19 cases registered an all-time high of 6,394 persons, pushing the total number of infections to 3,35,023, the National Health Mission (NHM) said.
With 26 persons in Kamrup Metropolitan, 11 in Kamrup, seven in Sonitpur, six in Darrang, five each in Cachar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, three each in Barpeta, Nagaon, Nalbari and Sivasagar, two each in Golaghat, Charaideo, Hojai, Jorhat, and one each in Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Karbi Anglong, Morigaon, South Salmara and Udalguri districts losing their lives, the total number of deaths due to the pandemic rose to 2,271 persons.
NHM said 1,347 more COVID-19 patients have died till now, but the government's Death Audit Board has not included them in the tally of deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus as they had other ailments too.
With detection of 6,394 patients against testing of 91,481 samples on Monday, Assam has reported a positivity rate of 6.99 per cent for the day, the NHM daily bulletin said.
The state had reported 3,650 coronavirus positive cases on Sunday against testing of 42,884 samples.
Currently, the state has a total of 44,942 active cases and they are being treated at different hospitals and Covid Care Centres (CCCs) across the state along with some being at home isolation.
Out of new cases, the highest 1,100 patients were detected from the state capital, followed by 502 in Kamrup, 456 in Dibrugarh and 430 in Nagaon.
With 3,35,023 total COVID-19 positive cases in Assam, the overall positivity rate stands at 3.5 per cent against total testing of 95,84,183 samples so far.
The Kamrup Metropolitan district, which primarily comprises the Guwahati city, has so far reported a total of 91,310 cases of COVID-19.
During the day, the state reported fewer recoveries than the number of new infections at 4,737 discharges, NHM said in its daily bulletin.
In Assam, 2,86,463 COVID-19 patients have so far recovered and were discharged from different hospitals and CCCs.
The NHM further said a total of 34,69,905 doses of vaccines have been administered.
This includes 27,29,015 first doses and 7,40,890 second doses.
It said that a total of 69,071 persons were vaccinated on Monday, up from 39,339 shots on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state's oxygen production has gone up to 84.5 MT.
"On May 1, I had visited #Oxygen unit Premier Cryogenics in Saukuchi, Ghy, to request that production be resumed in this shut down company. Glad that one unit is functional now & producing 14 MT. I visited them again today."
"Assam is proud not only to meet our own oxygen requirements but also having had the opportunity to help neighbours," he said in a series of tweets.
Health Minister Keshab Mahanta visited the Karimganj Civil hospital and SK Roy Civil Hospital in Hailakandi in Barak valley and reviewed treatment facilities and took stock of COVID-19 status there.
"In a meeting at the #Karimganj DC office with the DC, health officials and local dignitaries, discussed immediate measures to be taken to boost health infrastructure in the District to bring down rising cases at the earliest," he tweeted.
Mahanta also held a meeting with the Hailakandi deputy commissioner and other senior officials and asked them to keep a strict vigil of containment zones.
State Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Monday reviewed compliance with COVID-19 protocols in public transport.
Holding a virtual meeting with all district transport officers (DTOs), the minister emphasised that restrictions have to be enforced in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases, an official release said.
He also directed the enforcement officials of the department to check that COVID-19 guidelines like mask use, regular sanitisation of vehicles, and restrictions on seating aarrangements are maintained in public transport.
"Patowary further directed the DTOs to maintain a close coordination with the railway, police, district administration, FCI and Food and Civil Supply Department to ensure that a sufficient number of trucks are available for unloading of essential commodities," the statement said.
The officials were asked to monitor and ensure smooth transportation of goods to different parts of the state so that no shortage of essential commodities occurs amidst the pandemic.
For the improvement of road safety, DTOs have been directed to coordinate with district administration, police, PWD, and NHAI to control the number of road accidents and fatalities.
The Transport Department has distributed 15 traffic interceptor vehicles to check over-speeding, especially on the National Highways, the minister was informed.
"The Transport Minister emphasised on the enhancement of motor vehicle revenue collections. He directed officers to work hard from the very beginning of the financial year for increasing revenue collection in the interest of the state exchequer," it said.
The state on Monday decided to stop all inter-district transport services and movement of people across the state for 15 days with effect from May 21 in order to control the spiralling number of COVID-19 cases.
The new order came after the state reported its single- day highest 92 COVID-19 deaths as well as the number of coronavirus cases registered at an all-time high of 6,394 persons.
"Whereas, it has been observed that with unabated inter- district movement, the COVID-19 containment measures are not yielding the desired level of reduction in COVID-19 cases," the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its order.
Accordingly, the government ordered to suspend all inter-district transport services and movement of people across the state for 15 days with effect from 5 am of May 21, 2021, except for a set of exemptions.
The Assam government on Saturday announced tightening of restrictions in urban and semi-urban areas with movement of people and vehicles banned from 12 noon to 5 am, while imposing night curfew in the rest of the state from 6 pm to 5 am.
Regarding the inter-district traffic restrictions, ASDMA said various emergency and essential services have been exempted, while allowing movement of goods uninterrupted.
"Movement related to medical, last rite emergencies or any other movement with written permission from the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of originating district," it added.
Assam is witnessing rise in coronavirus cases as part of the deadly second wave.
The state has logged 3,28,629 COVID cases from the start of the pandemic so far, while 2179 people have lost their lives due to the virus.
Assam has 43377 active cases at present.