Assam registered its first Covid-19 positive patient Tuesday evening (31 March). State health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted that a 52-year-old man has tested positive and is admitted to the Silchar Medical College Hospital. His condition, the minister said, was stable.

Meanwhile, a massive manhunt has been launched to trace the 456 people who attended a religious gathering organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at Delhi’s Nizamuddin. Most of them are believed to have returned to the state.

The Assam government has asked its officials all over the state to trace them and shift them immediately to quarantine facilities that have been set up in all the districts. The state government has also issued an appeal to the Nizamuddin returnees to report to the nearest government hospital.