The Heema Hospital in Itanagar has announced to temporarily close all its services for five days from September 17 after a large number of its health workers tested positive for COVID19 in the last few days.

Emergency services including occupational therapy (OT) would also remain suspended from Thursday, the hospital authorities said on Wednesday.

The authorities of Heema Hospital said around 20 of its healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID19 after the inflow of patients increased in the hospital with the Rama Krishna Mission Hospital (RKMH) suspending its services for a week.

The RKMH has also closed all its services till September 20 after 25 of its health workers, including three doctors, tested positive for the virus.

One of the hospital’s sanitary assistant succumbed to the virus while on duty last week.

The temporary closure of two of the prominent hospitals in the Itanagar Capital Region has started to cause panic in the region, especially among those needing emergency medical attention.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID19 cases continues to rise in Arunachal Pradesh after 170 more people tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

The state at present has 1,795 active COVID19 cases while 13 people have succumbed to the virus so far.

In all, 4,658 people have recovered from the disease so far, taking the state’s recovery rate to 72.03%.

Damien Lepcha is Northeast Now Correspondent in Arunachal Pradesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]