Even as the COVID-19 tally in Assam continued to swell, Guwahati, which has accounted for nearly half of the over 23,000 cases in the state, entered the first phase of unlock from July 20.
The overall COVID-19 tally in the state has increased to 23,999 with detection of 1018 new cases in the last 24 hours.
Out of the new cases, 577 were from Guwahati, with the city accounting for over 10,000 cases in the state, including most in the last couple of weeks.
The COVID-19 death toll in the state stood at 57, while the number of recovered patients is above 16,000 so far.
As Guwahati started to open up after three weeks of lockdown to check spread of COVID-19, reports of different sections of people getting infected continued to pour in.
Dispur MLA Atul Bora has been detected with the virus and shifted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on July 20.
Over 70 people in the Raj Bhawan, the official residence of the governor, have been so far detected with COVID-19.
Besides Guwahati, Golaghat, Jorhat and Silchar have emerged as possible hotbeds of the virus, the state Health minister had earlier said.
Several relaxations in the lockdown norms in Kamrup Metro district, under which Guwahati comes, have come into force from July 20.
Business establishments and offices have been allowed to open with limited employees and under certain restrictions as notified by the government.
A 12-hour night curfew remained clamped across the state, while ban on inter-district travel of individuals would come into effect from July 22.
