ITANAGAR, July 18 - Arunachal Pradesh continues to witness a surge in COVID-19 cases with the detection of 66 new infections on Friday, taking the State�s tally past the 600 mark.
Presently, Arunachal Pradesh has 609 coronavirus cases, including 431 active cases, 175 cured/discharged cases and three casualties.
Of the 66 cases detected on Friday, 58 are from the Itanagar Capital Complex, four from Changlang, two from East Siang and one each from Lower Siang and Namsai districts, stated a bulletin issued by the Directorate of Health Services here last night.
Of the 58 individuals testing positive in Itanagar, 42 underwent RDT-Antigen test, including 16 from Naharlagun�s Dokum Colony/A-sector, six from Press Colony, two each from Papu Nallah and F-sector, and one each from C and E sectors, 13 from Nirjuli�s Kapa Colony and one from the PHQ, Itanagar.
The remaining 16 cases were detected through RT-PCR and TrueNat tests, which include five from B-sector, one from Dokum Colony, two from A-sector and one from Barapani (all in Naharlagun), two from Chimpu in Itanagar, three policemen and a driver who were on COVID-19 duty, and one CRPF personnel of Senki View in Itanagar.
Both the positive cases of East Siang are returnees and they tested positive in facility quarantine.
Two of the four positive cases from Changlang and one of Lower Siang are also returnees who tested positive while they were lodged in facility quarantine.
Meanwhile, 22 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery from the infection. Among them, 10 are from the Itanagar Capital Complex, nine from West Kameng, two from Namsai and one of Longding district.
