Andaman and Nicobar: 31 new cases of Covid-19 push tally to 6,820

At least 31 more people have

tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the tally in the Union Territory to 6,820, a health department official said on Sunday.

The death toll rose to 101 as three more persons succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, he said.

All the new cases were detected during contact tracing.

Twenty-four people were cured of the disease during the period, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 6,441.

The Union Territory now has 278 active cases.

The local administration has been strict to contain the spread of the disease and has adopted an approach of tracking, testing and treating, he said, adding that people arriving here from the mainland are mandatorily required to undergo rapid antigen test.

The administration will impose a lockdown from May 24 in South Andaman district to break the chain of the coronavirus infection there.

The restriction will be in force till May 31, the official said.

All shops selling essential items will remain open between 6 am and 8 am daily during the period.

Altogether, 1,20,387 people have been inoculated in the archipelago till Sunday, with 17,358 of them having received both doses of the COVID vaccine.

The Andaman and Nicobar administration has conducted 3,82,640 sample tests for COVID-19 so far, and the positivity rate stands at 1.77 per cent.