66 new cases push COVID-19 tally of Andamans to 6,150

Port Blair: At least 66 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the tally in the Union Territory to 6,150, a health department official said on Tuesday.

Seven new patients have travel history, and 59 were detected during contact tracing, he said.

The death toll rose to 70 as one fresh fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours.

Fifty-two people were cured of the disease during the period, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 5,850.

The Union Territory now has 230 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.

"People arriving here from the mainland are mandatorily required to undergo rapid antigen test," the official said.

The tourism sector is facing the brunt of the second wave of coronavirus cases as many people have started cancelling their bookings in view of the current COVID situation, industry sources said.

Altogether, 1,10,535 people have been inoculated in the archipelago, with 14,175 of them having received both doses of the COVID vaccine.

The Andaman and Nicobar administration has conducted 3,73,785 sample tests for COVID-19 so far, and the positivity rate stands at 1.65 per cent.