Itanagar, July 21 (PTI): Fifty more people, including nine Army jawans and six police personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the northeastern state''s tally to 790 on Tuesday, a senior health official said.
Thirty-four fresh cases were reported in the Capital Complex region, 10 in the border district of Tawang, five in Lower Subansiri and one in West Siang, he said.
Nine Army jawans are among those infected in Tawan district situated along the India-China border, State Surveillance Officer, Dr L Jampa, said.
Six police personnel from Naharlagun police station are among the 34 new patients in the Capital Complex region, he said.
Four new patients from Lower Subansiri district and the one from West Siang are returnees from other states, Dr Jampa said.
All barring six new patients are asymptomatic and they were shifted to COVID-19 care centres, he said.
Three more persons from Lower Subansiri district recovered from COVID-19 on Monday and were advised 14-day home isolation upon their release from hospitals, the official said.
Of the 790 cases in the state, 502 are active while 285 people have recovered and three patients have died, Dr Jampa said.
The Capital Complex region comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas has registered the highest number of cases in the state at 306, followed by Changlang (33), Namsai (30), East Siang (24), Papum Pare (22), Lower Subansiri (16), Lower Siang (14) and Leparada and Tawang (10 each), he said.
The Health Department has received around 1.5 lakh antigen test kits, of which 78,000 have been distributed among various districts, the official said.
"Most of the rapid diagnostic kits will be used in the Capital Complex region," he said, adding sero-surveillance of ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test is also being conducted in the region.
The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stands at 35 per cent, Dr Jampa said.
"There is a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases in the Capital Complex region. But the good news is that most of them are asymptomatic," he said.
Dismissing reports of community transmission of COVID-19 in Capital Complex, Dr Jampa said, "There is a still a very thin line to be crossed for community transmission".
A complete lockdown has been imposed in the region till August 3.
A total of 40,477 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state so far, he said.
Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases since July 1, with 599 cases being reported in the last 21 days.
The state had remained coronavirus-free till May 23. It witnessed a spurt in COVID-19 cases after residents started returning from other parts of the country.
