Nagaland reports 5 more Covid-19 cases, tally surges to 9

Guwahati: Five new Covid-19 cases were officially confirmed in Nagaland on Wednesday morning, taking the tally in the state up to 9. Of these new cases, 4 are from Dimapur, and 1 is from Kohima.

"Another 5 more returnees from Chennai tested COVID-19 positive this morning; 4 from Dimapur and 1 from Kohima. With this, we have 9 active cases in Nagaland", wrote Nagaland Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom, taking to Twitter earlier today. "They all are undergoing proper medical treatment at COVID19 Hospital Dimapur and Kohima respectively", Phom further wrote.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister has urged the people of the state not to discriminate against the frontline fighter who are batting the deadly contagion. "The positive case of COVID-19 was anticipated. We knew that this deadly virus will not spare our state when we decided to bring all returnees back. Let us stay positive and fight this Pandemic together. Do not discriminate the front line workers and do not panic because together, we can", Phom said.

It may be recalled here that Nagaland reported its first cases of the virus on Tuesday, May 26, after three persons who had returned from Chennai tested positive. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in a tweet said: "Unfortunately, two persons in Dimapur and one in Kohima have been tested positive for COVID-19. Please do not panic. We need to handle it with utmost care and responsibility. Necessary action of contact tracing and containment measures are being taken and situation closely monitored." A day later, one more Chennai-returned person tested positive for the virus, taking the number of cases upto 4.

Later in the evening, Rio met his colleagues in the Covid-19 War Room to "take stock of the overall scenario of the state" and take measures to mitigate the crisis.

According to experts and analysts, the exodus of thousands of people from southern and western regions of India to the Northeast region has led to a steep rise in COVID-19 positive cases, especially in Assam.

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