GUWAHATI: A 65-year-old man in Assam is the Northeast’s first COVID-19 casualty. The man died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in southern Assam’s Barak Valley in the wee hours of Friday.

“With utmost Grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan, (65) Hailakandi District has expired a few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 http://infection. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family,” Assam’s Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted.

The deceased had a travel history to Saudi Arabia. He had tested positive on April 7 and was admitted to the SMCH. Sarma said the man had visited Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi last month.

He was among 29 people who had tested positive. The remaining others were admitted to various hospitals. Five others in Northeast – two in Manipur and one each in Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh – also tested positive.