77 positive in Cachar, 46 in Karimganj and 17 in Hailakandi; 2 dead with Covid at SMCH

Barak Valley at present is currently witnessing a deluge of covid cases as infections spearheaded by the new double and triple mutants are slowly but surely paving their way throughout the three southern districts. The new variants are even feared to possess an immune escape mechanism after making certain deletions in its spike protein affecting vaccine efficacy and prior immunity gained from the previous infection of the wild type (original strain) forcing virologists to rethink tweaking the jabs for neutralising the virus.

In fact, pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca are already deliberating to create and deliver booster shots against the new variants of concern emerging worldwide in a short span of time.

Dr. Bhaskar Gupta, Vice Principal of Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) informed on Tuesday that at present there are 57 active covid cases in the hospital. Out of them, 21 are in ICU, and 36 at the covid ward. 7 patients are in ventilator support while 14 are under oxygen therapy. 4 patients got admitted to the hospital today and 2 were discharged after recovering from the disease.

Two individuals succumbed to covid at SMCH on Tuesday. Among them was Sandhya Bhattacharjee aged 84 years who came to the hospital with a complaint of chest pain today. She had diabetes and hypertension as comorbidities. The patient was diagnosed to have the acute coronary syndrome and her Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) came out positive subsequently. Upon deterioration of her health, she was shifted to the ICU where she developed a sudden cardiac arrest. CPR and resuscitation were performed but all the efforts to revive her went in vain and the Athalbasti resident died within 45 minutes of arrival at 10:45 am.

Amal Das aged 50 years was admitted to SMCH on 25th April 2021 after being referred to by Valley Hospital in a critical state with the diagnosis of septic shock, cold with pneumonia, and covid positive result. The patient was critical at the time of admission and had to be intubated the next day. His condition didn’t improve with time and the Ashram Road resident died at 1:15 pm today.

1775 Rapid Antigen Tests were performed in Cachar district on Tuesday of which 70 of them turned positive. Seven were RT-PCR positive. The district, till 6:00 pm had 77 cases.

A total of 1362 swabs were collected in the Karimganj district of which 46 turned positive. 15 patients were discharged from various hospitals in the district. The no. of active covid cases in the district stands at 147.

Hailakandi reported 17 fresh covid cases on Thursday, pushing the coronavirus tally in the district to 3,480. Of the 17 active cases detected on Thursday, 16 have been found positive under Rapid Antigen Test. Results of 353 samples are being awaited from Silchar Medical College and Hospital. The district has altogether 75 active covid cases while 3,382 patients have recuperated from the disease.

Despite new emerging variants, the disease prevention strategy remains the same as per experts. Maintaining covid appropriate behavior and avoiding large gatherings is the key to fight against covid