Assam to conduct 50,0000 Covid tests on August 4

GUWAHATI: The Assam government will conduct 50,000 Covid tests on August 4, as the state looks to ramp up testing to arrest the surge in cases.
State health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while inaugurating the state’s second plasma bank in Tezpur Medical College and Hospital (TMCH) on Sunday, said, “If we can continue doing 50,000 tests for each of the next 15 days, the positivity rate will reduce to 2-1%.We are on the right path and there is nothing to worry. Since we can identify the infected patients on the day of the rapid antigen tests, those people won’t be able to spread the infection further. Slowly the chain (of infection) will break".

He added that the spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state was because of an unprecedented number of testing.
"The numbers (positive cases) have increased to some extent in the last few days. This is mainly because of more number of tests carried out in an unprecedented way. A state like Assam has done 43,000 tests in a day. We will conduct 50,000 tests on August 4. When the rate of testing increases, the number of positive cases also goes up proportionately," the health minister said.
He, however, said considering the trend on the rate of positivity since July 25, the government was hopeful that the infection was slowing down comparatively. “Once, 18 out of 100 people tested positive in the state. But now, this has come down to five,” the minister said.
Dibrugarh and Sonitpur still have positivity rates of 10 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, the minister said, adding that they remained a concern. The positivity rate in Kamrup (Metro) is 4.5 per cent.
“Dibrugarh and Sonitpur have recorded the highest positivity rate in the last three days,” Himanta pointed out.
He said the Sonitur deputy commissioner had been advised to conduct 2,000 tests a day so that the target of 50,000 tests in the district can be achieved in August.
Himanta also said the state government received a proposal from the Dibrugarh deputy commissioner to lock down Dibrugarh town, which is under consideration.
“Lockdown without testing is a waste of time. When the district authority will get the testing infrastructure right, only then will lockdown yield benefits,” he added.
The minister said the state government will take a decision on reopening schools by August 22. “Quarantine and isolation centres will be withdrawn from schools and colleges. But their reopening will depend on the situation in the respective districts,” Himanta said.
Later, in a tweet, he stated that the mortality rate due to Covid-19 stands at 0.24% in Assam, the lowest in India, while the state’s recovery rate at 75% has been the 4th best in the country. Test per million in Assam is 27,544, which, Himanta said, was the 5th best in the country.
“We work for a larger goal of humanity and not for a Model. Our commitment to fighting the pandemic is robust,” Himanta tweeted.