Delhi returnee tests COVID-19 positive in Mizoram; count rises to 14

Aizawl, Jun 3 () A 30-year-old man who had recently returned to Mizoram from Delhi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the state's tally to 14, an official said on Wednesday.

Of the 14 cases, 13 are active, the official said.

The man, who had returned from Delhi in the last week of May, was housed in a quarantine centre in Aizawl, state nodal officer for the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Dr Pachuau Lalmalsawma told .

His samples had tested positive for COVID-19 at the state-run Zoram Medical College (ZMC) late on Tuesday night, he said.

Though the new patient was not responsive to rapid antibody test, he was admitted to the ZMC after he complained of fever, the official said, adding that the man is out of danger.

The health department has traced the persons with whom the new patient had come in contact with and their samples will be tested, Lalmalsawma, also the department's spokesperson on COVID-19, said.

Earlier, on June 1, twelve persons had tested positive for COVID-19. Ten of them had returned from Delhi while the other two had come back from Kolkata.

Eleven of them were quarantined at a facility in Kolasib district near the Mizoram-Assam border while one person was sent to the ZMC from a quarantine centre in Aizawl after he exhibited COVID-19 symptoms.

All of them are being treated at the ZMC and they are out of danger, health department officials said.

Mizoram reported its first case on March 24 when a 52 -year-old man, who had travelled to the Netherlands, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

He recovered and was discharged from the ZMC on May 9.

Meanwhile, the administration of Lawngtlai district in southern Mizoram has declared a total lockdown in its entire jurisdiction owing to rising COVID-19 cases in the state.

The order issued by Lawngtlai District Deputy Commissioner Shashanka Ala on Tuesday had proclaimed total lockdown from 1 pm on June 2 till 6 am on June 5.

No person without permission from competent authorities will be allowed to step out of his or her house during the lockdown period, the order said.

An area within a 500-metre radius of the quarantine centre in Kolasib district where the 11 COVID-19 patients were housed before the detection of their infection will be declared as a containment zone, officials said. COR ACD ACD