Pressure continued to mount on the state health department, with one more doctor engaged in Covid-19 screening duty in the city testing positive on Saturday.
The patient is a female post-graduate student of the Regional Dental College, housed in the same complex as Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, the state’s biggest Covid-19 designated hospital.
The detection of the case has not only raised Assam’s Covid-19 count to 59, but also forced hundreds of other medical staff at GMCH to be placed under quarantine.
Around 500 people, including doctors, nurses and support staff, have been quarantined since Friday.
The Kamrup (metro) district administration also declared the dental college hostel where the patient was residing as a “containment zone”. Swab samples of around 34 hostel inmates were also collected.
The city now has five containment zones, including three in GMCH. The staff colony of B. Barooah Cancer Institute and Amiyo Nagar in Chandmari are the other two containment zones. While a housewife from Amiyo Nagar was detected with Covid-19, a relative of a cleaning staff of BBCI tested positive after her death.
The GMCH had taken a major hit on Friday when another post-graduate student tested positive for Covid-19 and the health department had to place 386 people, including the hospital superintendent and many doctors, in quarantine.
The hospital also had to close its doors for new patients to check the spread of the virus.
Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “These are difficult times. My duty is to give the finest attention to all. Following social distancing guidelines, I have met her and assured her of the best care. Also requested students not to panic and ensure social distancing norms.”
GMCH officials said the latest patient was asymptomatic. “She was on Covid-19 screening duty in the hospital from April 25 to May 1. Then she was asked to stay in home quarantine according to protocol,” an official said.
She originally hails from Nalbari and had visited her native place in January during Magh Bihu celebrations.
“Already results of 357 swab samples of the healthcare workers have come negative. A few more reports will come later in the day. We are also sending the swab samples of staff and others to a Delhi-based laboratory and expect a report in two days,” Sarma added.
Sarma also observed that more testing would be the key to detection in Assam. He held discussions with top officials of a private pathology laboratory to boost efficiency and speed in Covid-19 testing capabilities of the state.
The day also had some good news. With no further Covid-19 cases detected at Athgaon Masjid and Kabarsthan, the district administration has withdrawn its previous order declaring the area as a “containment zone”.
Assam has seen a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases since Thursday, with 15 new cases being reported, including 10 from Silchar in Cachar district.
They were all occupants of the bus from Ajmer Sharif (Rajasthan) to Silchar.
With the Cachar district administration facing flak for its handling of the bus case, deputy commissioner Barnali Sharma was transferred on Friday. Hailakandi deputy commissioner Keerthi Jalli took charge of Cachar administration on Saturday and beefed up the security in the 11 containment zones in the district.
In lower Assam’s Dhubri district, 1,094 samples have been collected till Saturday, of which 927 have tested negative and the report of 162 are awaited.
All the five Covid-19 patients of the district have been discharged from Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) in Guwahati after recovery. They are under medical supervision at Prasanti Lodge in Dhubri town.
Additional reporting by Mukesh Kumar Singh in Dhubri
