After Goa, three more states become coronavirus-free

With no new cases reported in Goa, Tripura, and Manipur and one patient in Arunachal Pradesh getting cured of coronavirus, these four states have become coronavirus-free even as the total number of coronavirus cases in the country approached 26,500. Goa had reported seven coronavirus cases and Health Ministry data shows all of them cured/discharged.

Arunachal Pradesh become the coronavirus free state after the lone patient, a 31-year-old man, was discharged from hospital on Friday.

Manipur became second state after Goa to become coronavirus free after the state's second and last patient was discharged on April 21. In Imphal, a 23-year-old woman, who had returned from the UK last month, become the first coronavirus case. She was also the first Covid-19 patient to recover in the northeast.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said the second and last Covid-19 patient of Tripura was released from hospital (on Saturday). The first patient (a woman) in the state was discharged from the hospital on April 15.

Another north-eastern state Sikkim has not reported any case of COVID-19 so far.

The Sikkim government would bring back thousands of stranded people, including students and patients, from outside the state once the lockdown is lifted, officials said earlier this week.

Director General-cum-Secretary of Health PT Bhutia apprised the chief secretary about the details of patients stranded outside and said that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been prepared for screening and testing the people returning to the state.

The District Collectors and officers from all four districts apprised the chief secretary about logistics to be put in place for quarantining the people coming from outside.

The total number of cases in Maharashtra, the worst affected state, has risen to 7628 with 323 deaths. The other states that have seen the most number of cases include Delhi (2625), Tamil Nadu (1821), Rajasthan (2083), Madhya Pradesh (2096), Gujarat (3071), Uttar Pradesh (1793), Andhra Pradesh (1061) and Telangana (991). (With Agency Inputs)