Coronavirus: The COVID-19 cases doubling rate in Assam is 23 days
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the state is ready to implement the centre's standard operating procedure or SOP for holding NEET and JEE. However, he cautioned that the coronavirus crisis is still big threat and there are worries that even in Assam, which has one of lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the country, the fatalities may increase.
For the last 15 days Assam has been seeing a slight increase in positivity rate, and the number of patients on life support is also rising, Mr Sarma said.
"Centre has issued an SOP, so we will try to implement it in letter and spirit so that there is no discomfort to students. The positivity rate has increased, but it is largely in six districts. I am hopeful the exams will pass off smoothly," Mr Sarma told NDTV on Saturday.
Over 30,000 candidates for Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) are from Assam; they will take the exams in some 48 centres. Many say they are worried about moving in crowded exam centres and have asked the government to defer the exams so that they don't become coronavirus carriers.
While Mr Sarma assured the students they should not worry, he also raised some concerns over the coronavirus situation in the state.
"So far Assam has managed well compared to the national matrix, but for the last 15 days the positivity rate has slightly increased. This is an area of concern. COVID-19 is no longer benign, but still people are on oxygen support. We are getting more and more serious patients and if we continue to get serious patients, the mortality rate will go up," Mr Sarma said.
Assam has reported a positivity rate of 6.38 per cent, which is slightly lower than the national average of around 8 per cent. However, it also has one of the highest recovery rates in the country (80.26 per cent) and lowest death rates (0.28 per cent). The corresponding national averages are 76 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
The doubling rate in Assam, the worst-affected state in the northeast, is 23 days and the state is testing at a rate of 62,000 per million so far.
Mr Sarma said the state will soon likely need more oxygen equipment. "In Assam, the installed capacity of oxygen production is 37.8 tonnes a day, both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 are consuming 25 tonnes as of today. The requirement is going up, so at some point of time either we have to ration supply of oxygen for industrial purpose or bring from other states," the Health Minister said.
Over 500 COVID-19 patients across the state are on oxygen support, Mr Sarma said.