GUWAHATI:
Assam is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases every day since June 20 and on July 5, the state recorded a positivity rate of 10.14 per cent, fuelling speculation that the Ambubachi Mela, the four-day festival in Kamakhya Temple that saw more than 10 lakh devotees thronging the city from across the country, was a super spreader event.
“I do not want to blame Ambubachi Mela. But the gathering is one of the causes. Violating Covid protocols, especially in Guwahati city, has become the biggest concern,” a senior health official told The Meghalayan, requesting anonymity. Stating that there was no directive for compulsory Covid tests of Ambubachi devotees, the official said that one of the devotees, who wilfully came for the test, tested positive for the virus.
Kamrup Metro deputy commissioner Pallab Gopal Jha, however, denied that the Ambubachi Mela is behind the surge of Covid cases in Assam. “I don’t think the positivity rate has gone up only because of Ambubachi Mela. There has been a steady increase every day. This is not an abnormally steep rise,” Jha told The Meghalayan.
Reiterating that the recent surge in infections is an all-India trend, Jha urged the public to take precautionary measures and get themselves vaccinated.
According to the official bulletin of the National Health Mission (NHM), on July 5, a total of 210 cases have been reported with an overall positivity rate of 10.14% (210 cases out of 2,070 tests done)
Of the fresh cases, 98 were reported from Kamrup (Metro), 26 from Kamrup (Rural), 19 from Dibrugarh, 14 from Darrang, 10 from Sivasagar, 9 from Goalpara, 6 from Sonitpur, 5 from Nalbari, 4 each from Morigaon, Jorhat and Tinsukia, 3 each from Bongaigaon and Lakhimpur, 2 from Hojai and one each from Barpeta, Chirang and Nagaon district.
On July 4, the state positivity rate stood at 9.87 per cent with 90 cases being reported from Kamrup (Metro), 24 Kamrup(Rural), 11 from Dibrugarh, 7 from Darrang, 6 from Nalbari, 5 each from Bongaigaon and Hojai, 4 each from Biswanath and Goalpara, 2 each from Kokrajhar and Tinsukia and 1 case was reported from Nagaon district.
Similarly, the positivity rate on July 3 stood at 8.89% per cent. There was also a death reported due to Covid infection on the same day. Of 74 cases detected during the day, 56 cases were reported from Kamrup (Metro),6 from Darrang, 5 from Goalpara, 2 each from Nagaon, Dibrugarh, 1 each was reported from Jorhat, Sonitpur and Baksa district.
The state recorded an 8.15% positivity rate on July 2 with the report of 100 new covid cases. Of the fresh cases, 52 have been reported from Kamrup Metro, 16 from Bongaigaon and 14 were from Kamrup (Rural) district.
The Covid positivity rate stood at 7.89% on July 1. 78 new cases were reported on the day of which 61 were from Kamrup Metro and 12 were from Kamrup (Rural) district.
On June 30, the state recorded 60 new cases with a positivity rate of 7.79%. Of them 37 cases were from Kamrup Metro and 9 were from Kamrup (Rural) district.
The covid positivity rate went from 0 per cent on June 12 to 4.13 per cent on June 19 after daily tests confirmed 104 active cases.
The positivity rate in the state was 4.09 per cent on June 18, 3.13 per cent on June 17, 2.88 per cent on June 16, 2.89 per cent on June 15, 2.31 per cent on June 14, and 2.24 per cent on June 13. It may be noted that the state had become free of positive cases in the first week of April this year.