Arunachal bans non-vaccinated people from entering state

Itanagar/Agartala, Jul 08, 2021, IANS

Following a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, the Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to allow only vaccinated people to enter the bordering state, officials said here on Thursday.

A health official said that Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar during a virtual meeting on Wednesday told Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla that the state has been ensuring that anyone who is keen to visit Arunachal Pradesh must be vaccinated prior to their entry into the state.

Kumar informed the Bhalla that the state government has also undertaken aggressive testing for Covid-19.

Over 68 per cent of the people aged 18 years and above have received their first dose of the vaccine in the state.

The Chief Secretary said that the state has adopted a three-prong strategy to prevent the spread of the virus, which include extensive tracking and testing, enforcement of Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination.

"The state needs an additional three lakh vaccines in a bid to achieve 100 per cent coverage of beneficiaries in the 18-plus and 45-plus age groups," Kumar said.

Till Thursday, Arunachal Pradesh reported 38,283 Covid cases, including 184 deaths with 34,736 people have recovered from the disease.

The northeastern state's recovery and fatality ratio stood at 90.73 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively.

The Centre had recently deputed multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and three northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Manipur -- in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases being reported from these states.