GUWAHATI: Those who are not residents of the city are emerging to be the biggest carriers of the infection right now because 40% of the daily positive cases are from this group, who are getting detected while being treated in hospitals here.
But the positivity rate has dipped remarkably at the airport and in railway stations. However, markets are still being seen as super-spreaders in residential colonies, especially in East Guwahati.
The Kamrup (Metro) administration and the health department are continuing their surveillance among the floating population, including traders and other workers, who are not residents of the city. “The floating population does not have a permanent address in Guwahati. The maximum positive cases are now being detected at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) and some leading private hospitals. They are being tested before consultation with doctors,” additional DC, Sharmistha Borah, told TOI on Tuesday.
She confirmed that 30 to 40% of the daily cases detected in Kamrup (Metro) are being reported from the hospitals. Borah said while some of the cases are being reported from targeted testing that is being carried out randomly among the street vendors and vulnerable population on footpaths, detection of cases in the residential colonies, especially East Guwahati, is a bigger threat. “For quite a while, we have been registering most cases from Beltola, Six Mile and Khanapara areas in East Guwahati. This is a vast area and has some old markets,” she added. In these areas, mostly women were found positive because they go to the markets, said Borah.
Earlier truck parkings, warehouses and defence establishments in East Guwahati were in the radar but of late the market places have emerged as spreaders. Health officials said there is no community spread reported recently, though in some of the apartments and densely populated pockets, more people have turned positive. “Interestingly, medical staff who reside in rented houses have also become carriers of the virus,” said Borah.
Out of the 636 Covid cases detected in the state on Monday, 124 were from Kamrup (Metro). Second in the tally was Sivasagar district in upper Assam but the case number was only 49. In Baksa, Bongaigaon, Charaideo, Chirang, Dhubri, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Hailakandi, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Majuli, South Salmara and Udalguri districts less than 10 cases were detected on Monday.
Assam director of medical education, Dr Anup Kumar Barman, said 30% of the floating population in Guwahati, who hails from other districts, is the major worry. “In railway stations and at the Guwahati airport, the detection of new cases has significantly declined. Thus, people coming from other states are no more a big concern,” Barman said. “The trend in Guwahati shows that cases are not increasing but it is also not going down like most districts,” he added.
In GMCH here, the rate of new admission of Covid cases has come down compared to the peak days of the second wave. However, the severity of infection still persists. “On the GMCH campus, a total of 278 Covid cases were admitted as on Tuesday. Forty of them are in critical care in ICU, which shows the severity of the virus infection,” GMCH principal, Dr Achyut Baishya, said.
