Arunachal govt extends complete lockdown in Itanagar till Aug 3 amid surging COVID cases

The Arunachal Pradesh government has extended a complete lockdown in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) till August 3 to contain local transmission of Coronavirus disease. The decision was announced by State Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in a virtual press conference on Sunday. Kumar said that the decision has been taken in view of the surge in COVID cases in the capital in the last two weeks.

According to an order, inter-district movement of people to and from Itanagar, except pressing emergency cases with the prior approval of both district commissioners, will be prohibited. All private and commercial establishments shall remain closed except banks, ATMs, health facilities and pharmacies, post offices, print and electronic media, telecom, internet and broadcasting services, and utility services, with minimum staff and strict adherence to SOP.

Grocery shops and vegetable vendors to be regulated by DCs, preferably through home delivery and e-commerce, the order stated. All transport services shall remain suspended except for essential services.

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COVID-19 outbreak in Arunachal

Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday reported 41 new cases of COVID-19, taking the state's tally to 650, a senior health official said. Most of the new cases were detected in the Capital Complex with 18 people testing positive, followed by 10 in Lower Siang, six in Papum Pare, three in Lower Dibang Valley, and two cases each in West Kameng and Lower Subansiri districts, he said.

The Capital Complex has recorded most of the cases in the state at 216 cases, followed by Changlang (37), Namsai (27), East Siang (21), Lower Subansiri, and Lower Siang with 14 cases each. The Capital Complex administration and the Papum Pare district authorities have declared several areas and buildings as containment zones in the wake of the sudden surge in cases.

Arunachal Pradesh at present has 373 active cases, while 274 people have recovered from the disease and three died. A total of 38,042 samples have been tested in the state so far, he said. The state witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases since July 1 with 459 cases reported in the last 19 days.

(With PTI inputs)

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