Toddler tests positive for COVID-19

Itanagar, July 11: Thirty-three more people, including a two-year-old child, tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the state's tally to 335, a Health Department official said on Saturday.

Of the new cases, 28 were found in the Capital Complex region, three in Changlang district and two in Namsai, he said.

The Capital Complex comprises Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa towns.

"The detection of 33 patients is the second-highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh as 37 people had tested positive for the disease on July 3," State Surveillance Officer Dr L Jampa.

Of the fresh cases in the Capital Complex, 14 were reported from an apartment complex in E-sector of Naharlagun, he said.

"Eleven more people, including a two-year-old child, had come in contact with the first coronavirus patient from the E-sector of Naharlugan. The child is a nephew of the COVID-19 patient detected earlier," Jampa said.

Three medical staffers, two from the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) and one from the Directorate of Health Services, were also found positive for the disease from the Capital Complex region, he said.

Two of the three fresh coronavirus patients from Changlang district are returnees from Karnataka and the other is a frontline health worker at Miao quarantine centre, the official said.

Jampa said the two from Namsai had recently come from Gujarat and West Bengal.

"Eight new patients from the Capital Complex region have symptoms of the coronavirus infection, while others are asymptomatic," he said, adding that they have been shifted to COVID Care Centres.

A week-long total lockdown has been imposed in the Capital Complex on July 6 after the region witnessed a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.

The Capital Complex region has so far registered 114 cases, the highest in the state, followed by Changlang (38), West Kameng (19), Namsai (13) and Lower Subansiri (12).

At present, the state has 213 active cases, while 120 people have recovered from the disease and two died of the infection.

A total of 29,834 samples have been tested so far in the state, Jampa added.