Coronavirus: Cases Surge In North-East; Assam Reports 44 Patients, Meghalaya Loses COVID-Free Tag 

With 44 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, Assam saw its tally of Covid-19 patients rise to 185, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday (20 May).

Of the 44 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, 35 were reported in the state's main city of Guwahati and remaining in several other districts, he said.

Sarma also said that three Covid-19 patients escaped from Sarusajai (stadium) quarantine centre, causing immense stress for the authorities, but were traced and brought back.

"Thanks to police for apprehending them in time. Such acts shall attract punitive measures," he said in a tweet.

Out of the 185 positive cases found so far in Assam, 48 people have been discharged from hospitals after they recovered from the disease and three cases migrated to other states, while four died, including a 16-year-old girl, who was found to be infected a day after her death earlier this month.

Meanwhile, health officials in Manipur said 18 people, including 12 women -- all returnees from other states, mostly Chennai -- tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

Of the 18, 14 returned to Manipur from Chennai and four from Delhi. With the fresh cases, the total number of positive cases in Manipur rose to 25 with active cases 23.

In Meghalaya, coronavirus returned 24 hours after the state's 13th and last patient was pronounced cured, with one person found infected by coronavirus on Tuesday night.

In Tripura, four more persons tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday night, taking the state's total number of cases to 173, though only 38 of them are active.

All the five people who tested positive in the two states had recently returned from Chennai, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma said.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)