COVID situation: Assam government closely monitoring situation; Centre allays fears

Amid the growing concerns over a possible covid outbreak, Assam Health and Family Welfare Minister Keshab Mahanta held an emergency meeting with top health department officials to review the preparedness of the state, and infrastructure to tackle with the new strain of COVID 19.

Discussions were held in detail with regard to hospitals, beds,oxygen and ICU to deal with any eventuality. Emphasis has also been laid on genome sequencing and RT-PCR tests.

Subsequently major decisions will be taken as and when situation arises. Meanwhile, the health minister has appealed to the masses to adhere to all general COVID norms.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there is no need for people of Assam to panic over rising number of Covid cases in China. CM Sarma said that the surge in China is because the Chinese vaccination have not been effective compared to Indian vaccines.

Meanwhile, amid the fresh global surge in the Covid cases, the Centre today assured the general public by saying that the Covid positivity rate in the country is declining week-on-week. As per inputs from ANI, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a statement, wherein it was stated that the positivity rate is declining week-by-week with only 0.14 per cent positivity in the week ending on December 22.

“Consistent decline in cases in India is recorded with five states accounting for 78 percent of the daily new cases reported on December 22,” the Health Ministry said, adding that 8 states and 4 UTs currently have zero reported active cases.

However, the ministry has advised States to step up their Covid related actions.

Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlighted the ongoing vaccination drive, launched by the Centre government, against Covid-19 amid the fear of Covid surge in the Country.