Arunachal Pradesh registers 10 fresh COVID-19 cases; tally rises to 269

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Ten more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the north-eastern State's tally to 269, a senior health department official said on Monday.

Of the 10, three are from the Capital Complex comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa, while two each are from Namsai, Changlang and Lower Subansiri districts and one from Upper Subansiri, the official said.

Both Upper and Lower Subansiri districts remained Coronavirus-free until Saturday.

All the fresh cases were reported from isolation centres, where people are being placed under quarantine following their return to Arunachal Pradesh, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) L Jampa said.

"All are asymptomatic and shifted to COVID Care Centers," he said.

The positive cases from Namsai were returnees from Tamil Nadu while the persons from Changlang have returned from Uttar Pradesh, the persons from Lower Subansiri have returned from Assam and Pune respectively, he said.

The case from Upper Subansiri is a returnee from Delhi while the cases from Capital Complex were detected at quarantine centre at Lekhi, near here, Dr Jampa said.

On Sunday, two persons were released in the Capital Complex after their swab samples tested negative for two consecutive times as per standard operation procedure of the union Health ministry, Dr Jampa said, adding, they have been advised to go for 14 days strict home quarantine and self monitoring.

While there are 190 active cases in Arunachal Pradesh, 78 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

A 43-year-old lady from West Kameng district has succumbed to the infection.

A total of 26,808 swab samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far.

The Capital Complex has registered the maximum number of coronavirus cases in the State at 83, followed by Changlang district at 54, West Kameng at 21 and Namsai at 12.

The State government had on Saturday declared imposition of a "total lockdown" in the Capital Complex for a week starting from Monday evening, following spurt in cases.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting convened by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

The shutdown will be in force for seven days from 6 pm on Monday he said, adding that no vehicular or pedestrian movement will be allowed unless absolutely necessary.

The north-eastern State which remained virus-free until May 23, had witnessed sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases after people started coming back from other States.

Also Watch: #NewsMakers: Discourse on Saving Dehing-Patkai