Guwahati, Apr 23 (PTI) A 62-year-old man from Assam's Dhubri district tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 35, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

This is the first COVID-19 case to be reported in the state in the last seven days, he said.

Assam had last reported coronavirus cases on April 16, when two persons from Morigaon district had tested positive for the infection.

"The man has a history of being in touch with another patient, who had participated in Athgaon Kabarsthan Masjid congregation here on March 12," Sarma told reporters here.

He was at a quarantine centre when he tested positive, the minister said.

With this case, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Assam has risen to 15. While one patient has died, 19 others have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Sarma said rapid testing kits were used for the first time in the state for "surveillance purpose". A hundred people were tested at a high-end apartment which was declared a containment zone on April 4 after a resident had tested positive for COVID-19.

The person is the only COVID-19 patient in the state who is not linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event which was held in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, he said.

"Nine persons have so far tested negative, and if all the cases turn out to be negative, we can consider lifting the containment zone restrictions from the complex in the next 48 hours, but all residents will have to follow the lockdown order," Sarma said.

He said rapid testing will be also conducted at Athgaon Kabarsthan Masjid, which was declared a containment zone on April 10 after three persons who attended the congregation here tested positive.

The rapid testing kits will primarily be used in medical colleges, hospitals and district health facilities, which will reopen for general patients from Friday, he added.

"The patients will be tested if the doctors want to be sure whether they are COVID-19 positive or not," Sarma said.

If the patients show coronavirus-like symptoms even after they test negative in the rapid test, "their samples will be taken for further laboratory tests", he said.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has allowed the state health department to conduct rapid tests for "surveillance purpose and we will follow their guidelines", the minister said.

With five coronavirus cases, Dhubri is among the "red zone" or "hotspot" districts in the state, the others being Golaghat, Goalpara, Morigaon and Nalbari.

So far, 5,789 samples have been tested at six laboratories in the state. Of these 35 have tested positive, results of 213 are awaited and the rest have been found negative, Sarma said.

Besides Assam, samples of people from Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland were also tested, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)