Over 2,741 cases have been reported in Guwahati in the last 10 days; Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the situation was alarming and could even worsen if the restrictions are not followed seriously. "By and large all of them are from the community", the minister told reporters, according to news agency PTI, which was largely construed as an indication of community transmission happening.
On Saturday, Assam reported a record 1,202 new infections, with 777 cases from Guwahati which is currently under a two-week lockdown.
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"We have formally entered the pandemic stage in Guwahati with these 2,741 cases. Earlier, most of the patients were people with travel history, so the pandemic was in the states from where the returnees had come but now, it is here," he said.
The minister blamed a section of the media for leading a "misinformation campaign" against the disease and trivialising it as "something akin to normal cough and fever and this has led to the rapid deterioration of the situation in the city". "This created a sense of complacency among the people and they moved around carelessly without taking necessary precautions after Unlock-1 was announced, " he said.
"This was a politically motivated move so that people stay away from tests and also to demotivate doctors and other health personnel who are working tirelessly to serve humanity," Sarma said. The minister asserted, "We will, however, remain committed, responsible and work with determination in our fight against the pandemic and will overcome it."
He said allegations like COVID-19 patients not being attended to properly by doctors and nurses, not being given food on time or hospitals being unclean are "absolutely baseless".
"I had visited the ICU ward of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, where serious patients are being treated. I had also met patients in the general ward. Nobody had any complaint and on the contrary, they were full of praises for treatment and facilities," Sarma said.
Assam has tested 4,55,223 samples for COVID-19 so far, and is fourth in the country in tests conducted per million population after Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Sarma said.
With 6,743 people getting cured, Assam has a recovery rate of 61.29 per cent while the mortality rate is 0.13 per cent with 14 deaths so far, he added.
-Inputs from PTI
