Andaman and Nicobar Islands update: 27 fresh Covid-19 cases reported

Twenty-seven more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, pushing the coronavirus tally in the union territory to 7,070, a health official said on Friday.

The COVID-19 death toll remained at 119 as no fresh fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, he said.

Of the 27 new cases, 22 were detected during contact tracing while five were airport arrivals, he said.

All passengers arriving by flight have to go undergo a mandatory Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) before they are allowed entry into the islands, the official said.

Thirty-nine more people have been cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 6,820, the official said.

The union territory now has 131 active COVID-19 cases of which 124 are in South Andaman district and seven in North and Middle Andaman district, he said, adding that the Nicobar district of the archipelago is now coronavirus free as it has no active cases.

The administration has so far tested 3,88,486 samples for COVID-19 and the cumulative test positivity rate is 1.82 per cent.

A total of 1,09,844 people have received the first dose of the COVID vaccine, while 17,385 people have been administered both doses of the vaccine. The union territory has a total population of 4 lakh people.

Meanwhile, the Information, Publicity and Tourism, secretary of Andamand and Nicobar administration, S K Singh in a press conference on Thursday reiterated the need to follow Covid appropriate behaviour in the fight against the pandemic.

He said strict action will be taken against those violating the COVID-19 protocol.

The police on Wednesday fined 147 people for violating the COVID-19 protocol, he said.