Shillong, Aug 1 (PTI) Fifty-three more people, including 27 security personnel, tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya, raising the state's tally to 856, a Health Department official said on Saturday.

Of the fresh cases, 45 were reported from East Khasi Hills district, three from Ri-Bhoi and one each from West Garo, West Jaintia, East Jaintia, West Khasi and South Garo hills, Health Services director Aman War said.

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"Twenty new cases were detected on Friday and 33 were reported on Saturday. Twenty-seven security personnel and three healthcare professionals are among new patients," he said.

Of the three health staffers, one is a doctor of the Bethany Hospital here and two are employees of the TB Hospital and the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, he said.

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Meghalaya now has 631 active COVID-19 patients, and 304 of them are armed forces personnel, War said.

Of the active cases in the state, 527 are in the East Khasi Hills district, of which Shillong city is a part.

A total of 220 people have recovered from the disease and five died of it.

The state health department has conducted 36,500 tests for COVID-19 so far, he added.

(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)