Nagaland COVID-19 cases breach 5000 mark

File Photo: Advisory on handwashing is seen pasted outside COVID-19 District District Control Room, Chief Medical Office Dimapur in this photo taken in March, 2020. (Inset) Days taken to cross successive thousand cases in Nagaland. (Morung Photo)

File Photo: Advisory on handwashing is seen pasted outside COVID-19 District District Control Room, Chief Medical Office Dimapur in this photo taken in March, 2020. (Inset) Days taken to cross successive thousand cases in Nagaland. (Morung Photo)

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 12

The COVID-19 infection wave continues to be on the rise in Nagaland with the case count breaching the 5,000 mark on Saturday with the addition of 118 patients.

Of the new cases, 113 have been reported from Dimapur, 2 cases each have been detected in Kohima and Peren districts while 1 case has been detected in the Mon district.

The new cases included 106 armed forces/security personnel, five returnees, five traced contacts and two frontline workers.

With the new cases, the total infections in the state climbed to 5,064, on the 111th day after the first cases in Nagaland were reported on May 25 when three returnees from Chennai were found infected with the virus.

According to Twitter updates from Nagaland Minister for Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) S Pangnyu Phom, the state also reported 31 new recoveries—25 from Kohima, five from Mon and one from Phek district.

With this, the total number of recovered cases continues to surpass active cases with 3, 822 recoveries against 1,215 active cases as of 3:00 pm, September 12.

Since the confirmation of first case on May 25, it took 57 days to cross the 1000-mark on July 20; 14 days to cross 2000 cases on August 3; and just seven days to reach the 3000-threshold on August 10.

After seeing a steady decline in cases in the month of August and reporting an average of 25 cases a day, the state took 22 days to cross the 4000-mark on September 1.

Thereafter, it took and 11 days to reach the 5000-mark on September 12.

Earlier on Thursday, health officials attributed the current surge in infections to the Nagaland Police (NP) personnel returning to the state after deployment in West Bengal.

The official told The Morung Express that more cases from the NP unit is expected in the coming days but added that there should be no cause for panic as preventive protocol was applied. “There should be no cause for panic because they are being secluded like the armed forces personnel. Plus they are all placed in Ganeshnagar (Quarantine Centre),” said the official.

Since May 25, the state recorded eight confirmed COVID-19 deaths with a mortality rate of 0.16%.

According to official data, two deaths are COVID-19 positive but ‘not COVID-19 related’ while five more deaths in Dimapur are under investigation. 17 cases are said to have ‘migrated.’