With 147 new patients detected on Monday, the single biggest spike in a day for the state, the number of Covid-19 positive patients in Assam crossed the 500 figure mark.

The day started with 35 new cases from seven districts in the state including the first patient from Dhemaji, the only district out of 33 in Assam, which had not recorded any Covid-19 positive case till Sunday.

Soon, 39 more patients were confirmed from three districts taking the state's tally to 467 cases. By Monday late evening, 73 more patients were reported, taking the total to 540 cases.

Five patients, who had tested negative in subsequent tests, were discharged during the day in Guwahati and Jorhat. At present, the state has 470 active cases, 63 recoveries, 4 deaths and 3 cases of positive persons migrating to other states.

Assam recorded its first positive case on March 31 when a 52-year-old cancer patient was found to be infected with coronavirus. It took another 37 days for the figure to reach 50 on May 7 and just 10 days to double and reach the 100 figure mark on May 17.

The figure doubled again to reach 200 cases four days later on May 21 and it crossed 400 cases in another four days on Monday. The latest surge in positive cases has happened in the past 7-10 days since the ban on inter-state movement was lifted on May 4.

Of the total cases, nearly 400 are amongst people who have returned to the state by roads and railways in the past three weeks. Till Sunday afternoon, nearly 60,000 people had entered Assam from other states in the region and across the country.

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"The surge has happened in the past 7 days and hence our recovery rate has dropped to 16% in comparison to the national figure of 41%," health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.

"One positive aspect is that almost 90% of our total cases are of people who are in quarantine. We have adopted a policy of ruthless quarantine of 14 days for all returnees and it has helped prevent community outbreak of the disease," said Sarma.

A community surveillance campaign by the state government covered 25,000 villages in the state and recorded around 23,000 cases of people with fever. Tests conducted on a section of them who showed Covid-19 like symptoms have come negative for all.

Sarma mentioned that a pro-active approach adopted in the past two months has helped Assam put adequate infrastructure in place and at present the state has capacity to treat nearly 5,000 Covid-19 patients.

More cases likely with resumption of domestic flights

With resumption of domestic flights from Monday, Assam now faces additional burden on quarantine facilities and the number of Covid-19 positive cases could also surge further.

A total of 32 flights were expected to arrive at Guwahati's Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport on Monday, but due to cancellations, only eight arrived. A total of 686 passengers landed on the first day.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, senior Airport Authority of India officials, security personnel and state government officials were present at the airport to ensure the standard operating procedures (SOPs) prepared by Assam government were followed.

All passengers were taken by government vehicles to their respective districts, where they will be placed in quarantine. Assam has declared 14 days of mandatory quarantine and Covid-19 tests for all passengers. Although there was an apprehension that chaos and confusion would mark the first day, it was avoided as most of the flights to Guwahati got cancelled.

"Today the number of arriving passengers got reduced due to cancellations, but from Tuesday, we expect around 1,000 more passengers. The next few days will be a bit hectic, but I am sure we will be able to manage the situation," Sarma told journalists at the airport.

He added that the state government hopes the rush of returnees to end by the end of June so that they can be managed properly before the onset of floods in July.

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