ITANAGAR, July 17 - The COVID-19 tally of Arunachal Pradesh has surged past the 500 mark with the detection of 52 new positive cases on Thursday, according to a bulletin issued by the State Directorate of Health Services.
At present, Arunachal Pradesh has a total of 543 COVID-19 cases, out of which 387 are active cases. While 153 positive cases have been cured so far, three patients have already succumbed to the virus.
As per the bulletin, 42 out of the 52 fresh cases were detected in the Itanagar Capital Complex alone, while seven positive cases were reported from East Siang and three from Upper Subansiri districts.
Of the 42 cases in the State capital region, two are returnees, who tested positive at a quarantine facility. Two out of the three Upper Subansiri cases are also returnees and were detected at a quarantine facility. The rest of the cases were found outside quarantine facilities.
Of the 52 new cases, 45 have been found to be asymptomatic and seven are symptomatic. All the infected persons have been shifted to COVID Care Centres.
The Itanagar Capital Complex continues to be the worst affected with 272 confirmed cases, including 247 active cases, 24 recoveries and one casualty. The other two severely-hit districts are Changlang (111 cases including 33 active and 78 recovered cases) and Namsai (38 cases including 30 active cases and eight recoveries).
As of July 16, a total of 35,430 samples in the State have been sent for testing and the results of 1,416 samples are awaited.
Total lockdown in West Siang: The West Siang district administration has decided to impose a weeklong �total lockdown� in the district from July 20. Deputy Commissioner Moki Loyi said that all returnees entering the district would have to compulsorily undergo institutional quarantine in paid quarantine centres from Friday onwards.
The decision to clamp the weeklong lockdown was taken in view of the �alarming� spike in COVID-19 positive cases in the Itanagar capital region and its neighbouring districts, and return of people in large numbers to West Siang district, stated an official release here today.
