Kohima, Jul 9 (PTI) Nagaland reported 16 more cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the state's tally to 673, officials said.

Of the 16 new cases, 13 are from Peren district, and three from Phek.

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More than 300 samples were sent for examination in the past 24 hours, of which 16 came out positive for COVID-19, state Health minister S Pangnyu Phom.

Nagaland currently has 369 active patients, while 304 people have recovered so far.

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Dimapur has registered the maximum number of COVID-19 cases at 222, followed by Peren at 197, Kohima at 126, Mon at 73, Tuensang at 36, Phek 12, Zunheboto four and Mokokchung at three.

Phom had on Wednesday tendered an apology to the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO), the apex body of major tribes in the eastern part of the state, for shifting 150 Chennai returnees on May 26 from a quarantine centre in Kohima to that of Tuensang, along with a suspected COVID-19 patient, whose samples were collected in the state capital for examination.

The person had tested positive for the disease the next day.

In an apology letter, the minister appealed to people to "condone" the error, and extend support to the members of Team Nagaland, who are busy fighting the pandemic.

Maintaining that a "communication gap" had led to the error, he said that the "matter was of deep concern".

He also gave assurances that a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been put in place to overcome such gaps in the future.

The ENPO had earlier said that it would forgive the state government over the Tuensang fiasco, provided it tenders an apology.

Kekongchim Yimchungru, the president of ENPO, when contacted, said a meeting in this regard will be held among its core members in Dimapur on Friday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)