68 fresh Covid-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh; tally rises to 858

Itanagar, July 22 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh reported 68 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the virus count in the northeastern state to 858, a senior Health department official said here on Wednesday.

Of the 68 fresh cases, 57 were reported from the Capital complex, while six were from Lower Subansiri, three from Namsai and one each from Papum Pare and Lower Dibang Valley districts, he said.

The new cases in the Capital Complex comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa were detected from various areas of the region during Rapid Antigen tests on Tuesday, while two of the total six cases in Lower Subansiri district are returnees and detected from quarantine centre, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) L Jampa said.

The case from Papum Pare district was detected outside quarantine centre while the three people in Namsai have returned from other states and detected in institutional quarantine facilities, he said.

The person from Lower Dibang Valley infected with the virus is a driver deployed in essential services duty, Jampa said, adding that all the cases barring two are asymptomatic and were shifted to Covid care centres.

On Tuesday, 18 infected people including 16 from the Capital region and two from Lower Dibang Valley district were released after being cured of the disease, Jampa said, adding that they have been advised to undergo two weeks strict home quarantine with self monitoring.

The Capital region has recorded the maximum number of 347 Covid-19 cases and is under complete lockdown till August 3.

Arunachal Pradesh at present has 552 active cases, while 303 people have recovered from the disease and three died of the infection.

A total of 41,772 samples have been tested in the state so far, he said.

The state witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases since July 1 with 667 cases reported in the last 21 days.

Arunachal Pradesh remained virus-free till May 23 but witnessed a spurt in Covid-19 cases after residents of the state started returning from other parts of the country.

The Covid-19 recovery rate in the state stands at 35 per cent, according to Jampa.

“There is a rapid rise in Covid-19 positive cases in the Capital region. But the good news is that most of them are asymptomatic,” he said.