26 test Covid-19 positive in Nagaland, total surges to 156

Guwahati: Amid the return of stranded citizens, Nagaland has registered a dramatic surge in Covid-19 positive cases on Friday as 26 more quarantined persons have tested positive, taking the total up to 156. As 30 persons have already been discharged after recovery, the number of active cases in the state is now 126.

Of these fresh Covid-19 positive cases, 23 are from the Dimapur quarantine centre, 2 are from the Kohima quarantine centre, and a lone patient has tested positive in a quarantine centre in Peren.

Earlier in the day, Nagaland Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom said that 17 new cases were registered out of of 67 samples tested at Dibrugarh in Assam. All these samples were being sent from a quarantine centre from Dimapur.

In a subsequent tweet, Phom informed that 9 more Covid-19 positive cases have been reported out of 251 samples tested at the NHAK in Kohima. 6 patients from Dimapur, 2 from Kohima, and 1 from Peren tested positive.

It needs mention here that Nagaland, which was coronavirus-free two weeks ago, on Saturday become the fourth north-eastern State after Assam, Tripura, and Manipur with total positive cases in three digits. With the return of around four lakh natives from the south and north India, coronavirus cases in eight north-eastern States have spiked upwards at a dramatic rate.

Meanwhile, India has reported 2,97,535 coronavirus cases so far, data from the Union Health Ministry showed this morning. India now is ranked fourth in the world in terms of coronavirus cases, after the US, Brazil and Russia.

Yesterday, the country recorded over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day for the first time, with 10,956 people testing positive for the deadly virus infection. The death count rose to 8,498 with a record single-day spike of 396 fatalities.

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