Assam: Ease hours stretched, city buzz returns; districts still under vigil

GUWAHATI: Life has returned to near normal here after the relaxations of Covid restrictions were extended till evening from Monday.
Health officials said that cases have become static with about 150 being reported every day. The average positivity rate in the capital for a while has been 1%. This is satisfactorily below Assam's positivity rate of 2.01% reported on Monday, but a constant vigil is being kept on the areas on the eastern front of Kamrup (Metropolitan) district which are still reporting positive cases.
Government sources said flouting of Covid-appropriate behaviour remains the biggest concern. However, the government is going ahead to roll out more relaxations depending on more recovery. "In absolute numbers, around 150 cases are being reported from greater Guwahati daily. Though it has reduced from around 1,600 cases per day till a few days ago, people need to be extremely cautious," said joint director, health services, Kamrup (Metropolitan), Dr Ganesh Saikia, adding that despite lots of efforts, the cases have not dropped below 100.
He attributed the drop in positivity rate in the urban district to nearly 20,000 tests. While Kamrup (Metropolitan) reported the highest cases at the peak of the second wave in May, now the spread is more worrisome in the districts. Despite many Covid patients from other districts also undergoing treatment in the city hospitals, the Covid-19 death toll has noticeably been slashed in Kamrup (Metropolitan). Against the state's daily death toll of around 30 in the last one week, the Guwahati hospitals reported about 30 deaths in the last 10 days. "In our district, most cases under hospitalization are from other districts but still there has been a significant decline in fatalities. In the next four days, both death and positivity are expected to come down," Saikia said.
The focus has now shifted to the rural areas of the state and in Kamrup (Metropolitan) the villages in Sonapur circle are a concern. "We are getting many cases from the containment zones in Sonapur. Rigorous testing is being done," he added. "A conducive environment can trigger the delta variant infection. But at the same time we need to realize that the people can not be confined to their homes for long. Despite restrictions in place, about 150 cases are still being reported," Saikia said.
Even though relaxations have been given, health officials said, more testing will continue. Though relaxations in testing is being given in Assam for the passengers arriving after getting both doses, all patients going for doctor's consultation still need to go through the mandatory testing.
The last 10-day data shows Kamrup (Metropolitan) is in third place with 1,727 total cases, after Golaghat (2,133 cases) and Sonitpur (2,123 cases) districts. Nevertheless, health officials and the administration is still on their toes, as Kamrup (Metropolitan) recorded the highest 149 cases among districts on Sunday. But there are no reports of more than 10 cases from one small pocket in the municipal areas.
Additional DC, Sharmishtha Bora, said the number of positive cases has significantly come down at airports and railway stations. "The economy suffers due to the prolonged Covid restrictions. After nearly 25,000 tests per day, the cumulative number of cases has been quite low in Kamrup (Metropolitan)," she said.