Andaman-Nicobar reports 2 more deaths, 129 new COVID cases

"The union territory administration has ramped up health facilities, and decided to distribute medical kits free of cost to all COVID-19 patients under home isolation," Director of Health Services, Onkar Singh, told PTI. The kits included some allopathic and ayurvedic medicines and a pulse oximeter which is returnable on recovery, he said.

The COVID-19 death toll in Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 20 after two persons succumbed to the disease, officials said on Saturday. The number of COVID-19 cases in the union territory mounted to 1,351 as 129 fresh infections were registered in the last 24 hours in the archipelago, officials said on Saturday.

Seventy-five patients also recovered from the disease during the period and the number of active cases in the islands is 831. Meanwhile, coronavirus entered Nicobar district, comprising 22 islands including 12 uninhabited ones, as seven government employees were infected with it, they said.

These seven people, who recently returned from Port Blair, were admitted to a hospital in Car Nicobar, the administrative headquarters of Nicobar islands. Till now, Nicobar district was coronavirus-free and heads of local tribal villages said they would not allow outsiders to its islands from now on.

The union territory has three districts South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar. "The union territory administration has ramped up health facilities, and decided to distribute medical kits free of cost to all COVID-19 patients under home isolation," Director of Health Services, Onkar Singh, told PTI.

The kits included some allopathic and ayurvedic medicines and a pulse oximeter which is returnable on recovery, he said. "Patients under home isolation will also be provided with two bio-degradable garbage bags for safe disposal of hazardous bio-medical waste," Singh said.