Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 caseload rises to 1,410

Eighty more people, including 26 security personnel, tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the northeastern states tally to 1,410 on Thursday, a senior health official said.

Seventeen Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and eight Assam Rifles personnel and an Army jawan are among the new patients, he said. Six Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) personnel have also contracted the disease, State Surveillance Officer Dr L Jampa said.

The Capital Complex region, comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Banderdewa and Nirjuli areas, reported 19 fresh cases, followed by 18 in Changlang district. The new infections were also reported from 12 other districts, including Shi-Yomi that registered coronavirus cases for the first time, he said.

Barring six, all the new patients are asymptomatic and they have been shifted to COVID-19 care centres, Jampa said. Sixty patients, including 36 from the Capital Complex region, were discharged from hospitals on Wednesday, he said.

So far, 677 people have recovered from the disease. The number of active cases stands at 730 and fatalities at three, the official said.

The Capital Complex region has the highest number of active COVID-19 cases at 336, followed by Changlang (68), Papum Pare (45), Namsai (44), Tirap (42), Tawang (32), West Siang (30) and East Siang (26), the official said.

Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a spurt in coronavirus cases after the residents of the state started returning from other parts of the country during a nationwide lockdown. As many as 1,219 people have tested positive for the infection since July 1, Jampa said.

The recovery rate among the COVID-19 patients in Arunachal Pradesh is 35 per cent, he said, adding that the state has tested 72,739 samples for the disease so far. Arunachal Pradesh reported its first COVID-19 case on April 2 and the patient recovered from the disease on April 16. The state registered its second case on May 24.