Agartala: The COVID-19 tally in Tripura rose to 1,932 after 141 more people tested positive for the virus in the state, officials said on Saturday.
Of the 141 new cases, 63 are from Khowai district, 35 from West district, 15 from Dhalai district, 10 from Gomati district, 11 from Sepahijala district, six from South district and one from North Tripura district, they said.
There are 545 active cases in the state while 1,372 patients have recovered from the infection, one person has died and 14 persons have migrated to other states, the officials said.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in a tweet, on Friday night had requested people of the state to be cautious.
He said, “141 People found COVID-19 POSITIVE today out of 2125 samples tested.”
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, in a tweet, on Saturday morning said “spoke to CM Sh @BjpBiplab ji who assured me that situation is well under control. Door-To-Door Rapid Antigen Covid Testing shall start full swing Monday onwards. Aggressive testing & containment measures are being taken after Covid cases shot up recently.”
According to the officials, 79,430 samples have been tested so far in the state for COVID-19.
At present 4,759 patients are in home isolation and 329 patients are in institutional quarantine.
In view of the spurt in the coronavirus cases, the Tripura government has decided to carry out rapid antigen tests for detection of COVID-19, state Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath told reporters on Friday night.
Nath said the rapid antigen detection tests have already begun in the state.
“The new antigen detection kits were used by health workers at Agartala Railway station on Friday. The kits will be used for carrying out COVID-19 tests across the state from tomorrow. It will deliver a report within half an hour,” he said.
Earlier, the state had planned to use rapid antigen detection tests from Monday but the plan was changed following a spike in COVID-19 cases.