Assam now has 23,948 active Covid cases. (File)
Assam on Monday registered the sharpest-ever single-day spike it has seen since the start of the pandemic with 6,982 fresh coronavirus infections.
According to Assam government reports, the daily positivity rate (the percentage of people testing positive) of 7.87 per cent on Thursday, a day before the Bihu festivity, rose to 10.75 per cent on Monday night while it was only 0.77 per cent on January 1. Eleven deaths were logged during this period, the sharpest surge in daily deaths in six months.
The cases have gone up by 158 per cent in a day.
The active Covid cases in the state were 918 on January 1 and it rose to 13,785 on Thursday and further claimed to 23,948 on Monday night.
Guwahati also saw a new daily high with 1,491 infections. The rise in cases comes after the statewide celebrations for the harvest festival of Bihu.
Over the last two weeks, Assam has seen over 25,000 fresh cases. Kamrup, Dirubagh, Cacjar, Jorhat, and Tinuskia are the six states that have witnessed a big surge in the last 10 days.
India has been logging more than 1 lakh cases since January 7 in an unprecedented spike driven by the Omicron variant. This morning, the Health Ministry said 2.58 lakh fresh infections were recorded.
The spike in big cities has been most noticeable. Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu among other states have been reporting the biggest surge.
Across the country, many states, including Assam, have been compelled to impose fresh curbs.
Last week, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attended a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Covid situation.
"Whatever doubts we had about Omicron are now getting cleared. The infection rate is significantly higher as compared to the variants reported earlier. While fighting against this new variant, we have to prepare for the strains in future too."
"We have to stay alert but we also need to be aware that there's no need to panic. We have to be careful amid this festive season," PM Modi said.