Agartala: Tripura registered 13 more deaths due to COVID-19, the highest so far in a single day, pushing the toll to 495, a health department bulletin said on Saturday.
The COVID-19 caseload in the northeastern state rose to 49,290 as 783 more people tested positive for the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, it said.
West Tripura district reported the maximum number of fresh cases at 378, followed by South Tripura at 110, Unokoti at 73 and Gomati at 62.
The remaining new cases were recorded in several other districts.
Meanwhile, the Tripura government has decided to launch a ”mass testing drive” from Sunday in Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) area and formed 12 teams of health workers and officials to carry out the exercise, an official said.
“The COVID positivity rate in the AMC area is high. But some people are reluctant to go for tests. Keeping this in mind, the administration has decided to launch the mass testing drive from Sunday,” Sadar sub-divisional magistrate Asim Saha said.
The administration has set a target to complete the exercise in all the 49 wards of the civic body in one month, but the duration could be increased depending on the caseload, the official said.
Initially, 12 teams will start door-to-door survey and conduct tests. The number of teams would be increased depending on the situation, he said.
“We have decided to conduct tests for at least one member of a family initially. If a person is diagnosed with the disease, other members of his or her family will have to undergo the clinical examinations,” Saha told reporters.
The state has so far conducted 9,10,318 sample tests, including 11,237 on Friday, and the positivity ratio stands at 5.41 per cent.
Tripura now has 6,324 active cases, the bulletin said.
At least 878 patients cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 42,408.
The recovery rate among coronavirus-positive patients in the state stands at 86.14 per cent.
Over 28 per cent of the state’s population has already been vaccinated, a health department official added. PTI
