Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rises to 16,4371

Itanagar, December 9 (PTI): Twenty-two more people, including four army personnel and a health care worker, tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the tally in the northeastern state to 16,437, a senior health official said here on Wednesday.

Of the fresh cases, six were reported from the Capital Complex region and four each from East Siang and West Kameng, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

Two cases each were also recorded in Upper Siang and Tirap while, one each reported from Siang, Changlang, Pakke Kessang and Lohit districts respectively, the official said.

Sixteen infections were detected through rapid antigen tests, while four were diagnosed through True Nat tests and two through RT-PCR tests, the SSO said.

Barring seven, all the new patients are asymptomatic and shifted to Covid Care Centres, he said.

Arunachal Pradesh now has 692 active coronavirus cases, while 55 patients have succumbed to the infection so far, the official said.

Thirty-seven more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 15,690.

The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state is 95.45 per cent, he said.

The state's positivity and fatality rates are 4.55 per cent and 0.33 per cent respectively, Dr Jampa said.

The Capital Complex region, comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas, has the highest number of active cases at 530, followed by West Kameng (52), East Siang (15) and Changlang (14).

The state has so far tested 3,65,935 samples for COVID-19, including 649 on Tuesday, he added.