GUWAHATI: Assam health department will conduct sudden random tests of COVID-19 in Dhubri district as the total number of cases from the district has reached 5. Addressing a press meet in Guwahati on Friday, Assam health minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that health department would conduct sudden random tests at Dhubri, Bilasipara and Chapar from where COVID-19 cases reported.
“Though Golaghat and Morigaon reported 9 and 6 cases respectively, these cases were detected at a stretch or within a day or two. But though Dhubri has reported 5 cases, the new cases are emerging in different timeframes. Therefore we are going to test swabs of 150 people randomly at Dhubri, Chapar and Bilasipara on Sunday,” said Dr. Sarma.
Sarma also clarified that it will not be a rapid testing, but the random tests will be based on swabs collection. The swabs from Dhurbi will be tested at Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, Barpeta.
Sarma also stated that surveillance would be intensified in Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts in western Assam as the two districts share their border with West Bengal.
“We have seen that the situation is deteriorating in West Bengal. New cases are emerging and many controversial reports have appeared in media. Therefore surveillance will be intensified in Kokrajhar and Dhubri,” Sarma added.
According to the information from ministry of health and family welfare, so far West Bengal has reported 514 cases with 15 deaths. Among them, 103 people have been cured. The increasing number of COVID-19 cases has raised the alarm in Dhubri and Kokrajhar as the two districts share border with West Bengal. . The state on Thursday recorded 58 new COVID-19 cases. It was the biggest single-day spike.
On the other hand, with new cases emerging from Kolkata, the city continues to be the epicentre of COVID-19 in West Bengal. Till Thursday, 150 areas in Kolkata were classified as containment zones
