Man recovers from COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, active cases drop to 17

A person recovered from COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, officials said on Friday. The man, who is in his early 30s, had tested positive after coming in contact with a 39-year-old police radio operator from the Bambooflat area, they said.

The total number of active cases in the Union Territory dropped to 17 with the fresh recovery, said Avijit Roy, the nodal officer for COVID-19 here. The Union Territory, home to several vulnerable tribes, has reported 33 cases. Eleven of them -- 10 with links to the Tablighi Jamat event in Delhi and a student who traveled with them in a flight from Kolkata to Port Blair -- were declared cured weeks back.

The police radio operator tested positive for the COVID-19 on April 17 and 21 persons who came in contact with him got infected. They were either his family members or neighbors or acquaintances. The police radio operator and three of his family members were declared cured on Wednesday.

Those declared cured will have to remain in institutional quarantine for 28 days and will be discharged after that, Roy had earlier said.