Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 caseload rose to 2,607 on Saturday as 95 more people, including a legislator, tested positive for the infection, while one more fatality pushed its coronavirus death toll to five, a health official said.
Fifty paramilitary personnel are among the new patients, he said.
A 55-year-old cart puller from Namsai district died due to COVID-19 at Tezu Zonal Hospital on Friday, State Surveillance Officer Dr. L Jampa said.
Jummom Ete Deori, the MLA of Lekang constituency in Namsai district, tested positive for COVID-19 and she is asymptomatic, Jampa said, adding this is the first coronavirus case among lawmakers in the northeastern state.
"I have tested COVID-19 positive. During the last few days, many people may have come in contact with me. It is requested that such persons may kindly test themselves and till results are out, please stay away from each other and family members, especially children and older people. I am asymptomatic and doing fine," Deori said in a social media post.
Forty-four fresh infections were reported in West Kameng, nine each in East Siang and Changlang, eight in the Capital Complex region, five in Namsai, three each in Lower Siang, Tawang and Lower Dibang Valley, two each in West Siang, Upper Subansiri and Lohit and one each in Anjaw, East Kameng, Papumpare, Tirap, and Upper Siang districts, Jampa said.
Barring seven, all the new patients are asymptomatic and they have been shifted to COVID-19 care centers, he said.
"Fifty paramilitary personnel — 27 in West Kameng, nine in East Siang, five in Changlang, three in Tawang and two each in West Siang, Upper Subansiri and Lohit — are among the
new patients," Jampa said.
Thirty-two people have been cured of the disease and were released from hospitals on Friday, he said.
A total of 1,125 people, including 506 security personnel, have tested positive for the infection in the state since August 1, the official said.
Arunachal Pradesh now has 852 active COVID-19 cases, while 1,750 people have recovered from the disease and five people have died of it.
West Kameng district has the highest number of active COVID-19 cases at 110, followed by 109 in the Capital Complex region, comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli, and Banderdewa areas, 106 in East Kameng, 92 in Lohit, 82 in East Siang and 77 in Namsai, the official said.
