Four more Covid-19 patients, including a senior doctor of the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), died in Assam on Monday, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
With this, the death toll due to Covid-19 in the state has risen to 45.
In nine of these cases, the Death Audit Board is yet to ascertain whether the "underlying cause of death is Covid-19".
The death of the 56-year-old associate professor of GMCH's oncology department is the first case of a medical fraternity member succumbing to the disease in the state, a senior doctor of the hospital said.
He was suffering from cough and fever and his antigen test was negative, following which his swab samples were sent for the RT-PCR test, the doctor said.
The quinquagenarian was in home quarantine. He died while he was being brought to the hospital this morning after his oxygen levels dropped.
The other three patients who died were a 31-year-old man from Golaghat district and two men, aged 30 and 62, from Kamrup Metropolitan district, Sarma said.
The minister held a meeting with principal, superintendent and doctors of the GMCH to discuss the measures being taken for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
" ...discussed how our health facilities and infrastructure can be improved to provide best care against the pandemic," he said in a tweet.
The situation in Guwahati is grim as Covid-19 cases are on the rise and it is "important that we have the highest level of preparedness to deal with the emerging situation", he said.
The state has so far tested 5,63,482 samples, Sarma said.
The total number of cases in Guwahati city has crossed 7,031 since June 24.
A 14-day lockdown from June 28 imposed in Kamrup Metropolitan district, under which Guwahati falls, was extended by a week till July 19 from 6 pm on Sunday.
As of Sunday, Assam had a total of 16,806 Covid-19 cases and 5,873 active cases.
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