Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma said the COVID-19 situation in the state is cause for concern
Guwahati:
The Assam government has asked the center to administer the coronavirus vaccine in the stage 2 trials to front-line health workers if the efficacy of the vaccine is established.
Assam’s Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma suggested today that the vaccine can be given to healthcare workers to begin with, and that in turn can also be counted as stage 3 trials.
He said the COVID-19 situation in Assam remains a cause for concern.
“In September, we saw an increase in the positivity rate of 1.5%. It was 5.5% and now it has exceeded 7%. Deaths have increased; the death rate was 0.22%. Today is 0.31% “. It is a cause for concern, “Sarma said.
“We are trying to convince people to comply with the COVID-19 rules. The evolution of the situation is of great concern. I will ask the center to allow the vaccine even in the stage 2 trials. If you wait until For stage 3 trials, the waiting period will be too long. If efficacy is set to stage 2, allow the vaccine at least for front-line personnel, and that may be the stage 3 trial. ” Sarma said.
Sarma said plasma therapy in the early stages of COVID-19 infection has shown good results in Assam. So far, Assam has given plasma therapy to 1,304 patients.
In the first week of September, the state registered 30,000 new cases, so by the end of the month the state is concerned that at least 90,000 could become infected. Assam’s 1 million tests have risen to 80,000; the state has tested around 27 lakh of samples.
“The death rate is highest in the Kamrup metropolitan district, which is Guwahati city and adjacent areas. The confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in the Kamrup metro are 90. There are still three districts in Assam out of the total of 33 that they have not reported any deaths. ” Said Mr. Sarma.
Assam as of Friday reported a total of 430 deaths from coronavirus. The total number of cases in the state was 1,38,339 as of Friday.
Sarma said earlier this week that deaths after treatment for the coronavirus infection were also increasing. She said that although there is no clear data, the government estimates that many of those who have been treated for COVID-19 and who showed negative results developed complications such as fibrosis, adding that they had to return to hospitals.
It is estimated that the majority in a thousand people died due to complications after COVID-19, but they have not been included in the coronavirus death data as the complications developed after they turned negative, the health minister told the journalists in Guwahati.
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