•  Sujal Pradhan, NET Correspondent, Sikkim

The northeastern state of Sikkim has reported 8 fresh new cases of COVID-19 during the last 24 hours; bringing the positivity rate to 5.6%.

A total of 6 patients were fully-recovered and discharged from home isolation. The state currently have 50 active cases, incorporating of patients, down with moderate symptoms, while the rest are either asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms.

The death toll remained unchanged at 454, as no new fatalities were reported in the past 24 hours.

Out of the 50 patients, seven are admitted in hospital, all in the regular COVID-19 wards and none in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The new 8 cases have been reported from the screening of 142 samples.

After having hit zero a few weeks back, Sikkim has registered upsurge in COVID-19 cases and the weekly test positivity rate currently stands at 5%. This number, however, is substantially lower than the cumulative average of 11.4% that Sikkim has clocked since testing began here more than two years back on 28 Feb, 2020.

In the meantime, Sikkim have administered 82 doses of CorBEvax vaccine to children aged between 12 to 14 years and 57 doses of Covaxin to those in the 15 to 18 age-group on Saturday. Besides, 96 adults took their regular Covishield shots, while 543 received their precautionary third dose.