Now, fears of a COVID surge in India’s northeast

University of Michigan model predicts spread of cases in Assam occurring as fast as any other place in India.

With experts saying the coronavirus is likely spreading in India’s northeastern state of Assam faster than anywhere else in the country, authorities are preparing for a surge in infections by converting a massive stadium and a university into hospitals. Cases in Assam started ticking upward a month ago and the official seven-day average of daily cases in the state on May 9 stood at more than 4,700 cases. But a model run by the University of Michigan – which predicts the current spread of cases before they are actually detected – says infections in Assam are likely occurring as fast as any other place in the country.