Soon after all the 11 coronavirus-infected patients in the Union Territroy were discharged after they recovered fully, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands's status from being COVID-19 afflicted to free was short-lived as one more case was detected in the Islands on Friday evening.
Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chetan Sanghi took to his Twitter handle to announce the recovery of all COVID-19 patients in the UT: "11 out of 11 positive cases recovered while #AndamanFightsCOVID19. However, the watch, caution and arrangements will continue as per GoI guidelines."
Sanghi on Friday told The Pioneer that one more case has been detected in the Islands. Investigation is on about his travel history and his link to Tablighi Jamaat. Initially, nine who tested positive had participated in the gathering at Nizamuddin from March 19 to 23. Later, the number rose to 11.
The first case of coronavirus surfaced on March 26 after nine members of the Tablighi Jamaat group returned to Port Blair on March 24 and subsequently, tested positive for COVID-19.
This led to apprehensions that the disease may even infect Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese tribes. “The biggest challenge was to contain the spread, to ensure it doesn't go to the islands,” said Sanghi adding there are 400-450 people quarantined in the Islands.
According to officials, the Andamans was among a few places in India to have introduced pool testing to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Pool testing involves taking multiple swab samples in a single test. "If the combined samples test positive for coronavirus, the samples are tested individually to determine who is infected,” officials added.
The pool testing method has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with several states running low on kits.