70 fresh COVID-19 cases in Arunachal; count rises to 1,126

Itanagar: Seventy more people, including nine security personnel, tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday, taking the northeastern state’s tally of such cases to 1,126, a senior health official said.

Thirty-seven fresh cases were reported in the Capital Complex region, 12 in Changlang district, six in Tirap, four each in Tawang and Papum Pare, two each in East Siang and Lohit and a case each was registered in Lower Siang, Siang and West Siang districts, he added.

The 37 fresh cases in the Capital Complex region were detected during rapid-antigen tests. Of the 12 new patients in Changlang, seven are returnees from other states, one is a health worker while four cases were detected in the Rankatu tea estate, State Surveillance Officer Dr L Jampa said.

All six new patients in Tirap district are Assam Rifles jawans, while three of the four new cases in Papum Pare district are Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel and one is a civilian from the Chiputa area, he said.

Three of the four new cases in Tawang district are Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) personnel and one is a returnee from another state, Jampa said.

One BRTF personnel, who had returned from Uttar Pradesh, tested positive for the infection in Siang district, he added.

Two new patients in East Siang district had returned from the Capital Complex region while two new patients in Lohit had come back from Assam. One new patient in West Siang district had returned from Uttar Pradesh, Jampa said.

Barring three, all the new patients are asymptomatic, he added.

Thirty-six more people have recovered from COVID-19 and were discharged from hospitals on Saturday, the official said.

Of the 1,126 cases, 695 are active while 428 people have recovered from the disease and three patients have died, he said.

Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a spurt in coronavirus cases after the residents of the state started returning from other parts of the country.

The state has recently registered a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 935 people testing positive for the infection since July 1, Jampa said.

Arunachal Pradesh reported its first COVID-19 case on April 2 and the person recovered from the disease on April 16. The state registered its second case on May 24.

The Capital Complex region, comprising the Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas, has the highest number of active COVID-19 cases at 402, followed by Papum Pare (61), East Siang (38), Namsai (36) and Changlang (25), the official said.

The recovery rate among the COVID-19 patients in Arunachal Pradesh is 35 per cent and a total of 57,861 samples have been tested for the disease in the state so far, Jampa added.