Itanagar, Jul 12 (PTI): Six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the northeastern state''s tally to 341 on Sunday, a senior Health Department official said.
Five of the six fresh cases were reported from the Capital Complex region comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas, while one new infection was detected in West Kameng district, he said.
The number of active cases has increased to 214 while 125 people have recovered and two patients have died, the official said.
Of the five new cases reported in the Capital Complex region, three are from different areas of Naharlagun while two health workers at state-run Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) also tested positive for the infection, State Surveillance Officer Dr L Jampa said.
The new patient from West Kameng district had returned from Uttarakhand and was housed in a quarantine centre, he said.
"All the patients are asymptomatic and they have been admitted to COVID care centres," Dr Jampa said.
Five people recovered from COVID-19 in Changlang district on Saturday and have been advised 14-days home quarantine and self-monitoring, he said.
The state government on Saturday extended the lockdown in the Capital Complex for another week till 5 pm on July 20 in view of the spurt in COVID-19 cases in the region.
The lockdown which was imposed in the region on July 6 was scheduled to end at 5 pm on July 13.
The Cabinet decided to extend the lockdown for another week due to a spurt in COVID-19 cases in the capital region, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar told reporters in a virtual press conference on Saturday evening.
Several new patients in Naharlagun do not have any travel history, he said.
During the lockdown period, intensive surveillance will be carried out at C, E and F sectors in Naharlagun. Contact tracing will also be intensified during this period. The lockdown will also see all the frontline workers from various departments undergo COVID-19 tests, Kumar said.
"We have sufficient quantity of antigen test kits for testing of all frontline workers and suspects," Kumar said.
The Capital Complex region has so far registered 119 cases, highest in the state, followed by Changlang (33), West Kameng (20), Namsai (13) and Lower Subansiri (12).
The state, which had remained virus-free till May 23, witnessed a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases after residents started returning from other parts of the country.
