Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday inaugurated a new COVID-19 testing lab at Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) in Guwahati.

This is the 13th COVID-19 testing lab in Assam and six more such labs will soon be inaugurated in the state.

In a tweet, Sarma said, "We have been continuously scaling up our testing abilities & improving our medical infra to ensure the best management of pandemic."

"Inaugurated the new testing lab at MMCH. Pleased to share that it is the 13th #COVID19 testing lab in Assam & 6 more labs shall come soon," he added.

We have been continuously scaling up our testing abilities & improving our medical infra to ensure best management of pandemic.

Inaugurated the new testing lab at MMCH. Pleased to share that it is the 13th #COVID19 testing lab in Assam & 6 more labs shall come soon.#AssamCares pic.twitter.com/OwHG4y47h5

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 1, 2020

It may be mentioned here that total COVID-19 cases in Assam rose to 8547 on Wednesday after 140 fresh cases were reported from the state.

Among these cases, 122 are from Guwahati alone.

Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asked everyone to follow the lockdown norms strictly and remain indoors as much as possible.

The health minister also said that though the cases in Assam, especially in Guwahati are rising at an exponential rate, there is, however, nothing to panic.

The state now has 2885 active cases and 5647 patients have already recovered from the infection.

So far 12 persons have succumbed to the coronavirus infection in the state.

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