OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh recorded the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases with 497 people tested positive for the infection, pushing the tally in the northeastern State to 26,317, a senior health department official said on Saturday.
Earlier, the frontier State recorded the highest single-day spike of 480 cases on May 25 last.
The death toll in the State rose to 111 after two more persons with comorbidities succumbed to the infection in the past two days, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.
A 55-year-old lady from Changlang died at Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh on Friday due to cardio-respiratory failure, while a man of 79 yrs age from the Capital Complex Region, died at Dedicated Covid Hospital (DCH) Chimpu on Thursday due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, the official said.
The Capital Complex region recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 103, followed by Tawang (67), Namsai (64), Lower Dibang Valley (46), Lower Subansiri (44), Lohit (28), East Siang (25), Changlang (24), Upper Subansiri (21), East Kameng (19), West Kameng (12) and Dibang Valley at 11 cases.
Eight new cases were also detected from Anjaw, six from Kamle, four from Leparada, three from West Siang, two each from Papumpare and Kurung Kumey and one each from Tirap, Kra Daadi and Shi-Yomi district respectively, the SSO said.
Of the fresh cases, 471 were detected through rapid antigen tests, 17 through RT-PCR and 9 through TrueNat method, the official said adding, 140 people have symptoms.
The frontier State now has 3,854 active cases.
As many as 333 more people were recovered from the disease on Friday, taking the total number of recoveries in the State to 22,352.
The recovery rate among coronavirus patients in the State stands at 84.94 per cent while the active percentage stands at 14.64 and the positivity rate at 6.05 per cent, the official said.
The Capital Complex Region - comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas - has the highest number of active cases at 729, followed by Tawang (484), Changlang (464), Namsai (291), Lower Dibang Valley at (272), Lower Subansiri (271) and Lohit with 209 cases.
Altogether, 5,68,556 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in the State so far, including 8,216 on Friday, Jampa said.
State Immunisation Officer Dr Dimong Padung said that a total of 3,39,582 people have been inoculated so far in the State since the vaccination drive began in January.
Keeping in view the spurt in coronavirus cases, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday, decided to extend lockdown in seven districts of the State for seven days till June 7 next.
All these districts are under lockdown till May 31.