200 new COVID-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh; tally rises to

Itanagar, October 3 (PTI): At least 200 more people, including eight security personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the northeastern states caseload to 10,220, a senior health official said on Saturday.

A 54-year-old sub-inspector of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and a 51-year-old official of Border Road Task Force (BRTF), succumbed to the infection, taking the state''s coronavirus death toll to 18, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr L Jampa said.

The SSB sub-inspector working at Bomdila in West Kameng district died of COVID-19 related complications at Namsai district of the state on October 1.

The BRTF official from Upper Siang district died of COVID-19 on September 30 at Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh. He had been admitted to the Dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH) at Pasighat in East Sang district on September 13, but was later referred to the AMCH, as his condition deteriorated on September 16, Dr Jampa said.

Of the 200 fresh cases, 87 were reported from the Capital Complex region, Anjaw (37), West Siang (18), 7 cases each from Lower Dibang Valley and West Kameng, 6 each from Papumpare and Tawang and 5 each from East Siang, Kurung Kumey and Upper Siang districts, the SSO said.

Four cases were also reported from Tirap, three from Lower Subansiri, two each from Changlang, Lepa Rada and East Kameng and one each from Upper Subansiri, Lower Siang, Lohit and Longding, the official said.

Five Army men, two state police personnel and an ITBP jawan are among the new patients, he said.

Four prisoners in Lower Dibang Valley district and three health workers in Kurung Kumey have also contracted the infection, Dr Jampa said.

Barring 16, all the new patients are asymptomatic and shifted to COVID-19 care centres, the official said.

As many as 134 more people were cured of the disease and discharged from hospitals, taking the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients in the state to 70.28 per cent, he said.

Arunachal Pradesh now has 3,019 active coronavirus cases, while 7,183 people have been cured of the disease so far, the official said.

The Capital Complex region, comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas, has the highest number of active coronavirus cases at 1,627, he said.

A total of 2,53,413 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far, including 2,420 on Friday, Jampa added.