No.79/2020-2021

Aizawl, the 2nd June 2020 : Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr. R. Lalthangliana held a press conference at SAD Conference Hall, MINECO where he announced the detection of 12 positive COVID-19 cases in the state. Home Minister Pu Lalchamliana; Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Pu K. Lalrinliana and Information & Public Relations Minister Pu Lalruatkima were also present at the Press Conference.

Before taking questions from the media, the Health & Family Welfare Minister expressed the Government’s gratitude to the print and electronic media and journalists of the state for their sincere cooperation and speedy dissemination of information and communication regarding the pandemic to the people. He announced that after the complete recovery of the lone COVID-19 positive patient, 12 positive cases of COVID-19 had been detected at the COVID-19 Testing Laboratory at Zoram Medical College at Falkawn, late last night from among 116 samples which were tested yesterday. All the samples including the 12 positive cases are from stranded currently under quarantine in institutional facilities, he added. Out of the 12 persons, 11 of them are female and 1 male in the 18-40 age groups. 10 of them arrived from Delhi by train and the other two by road from Kolkata. 11 of them hail from Kolasib District while 1 is from Aizawl District. Although all the patients are asymptomatic, they have been admitted to ZMC which is the state’s designated COVID-19 facility. He stressed that the cases surfaced from persons who are being quarantined and there is no need for any panic or fear and all the cases have been ‘imported cases’ having originated outside the state.

Home Minister Pu Lalchamliana who also addressed the media before the Q&A Session harped upon measures such as social distancing, use of masks and sanitizers and washing of hands frequently to stop the spread of the pandemic and requested people to adopt them seriously as a precautionary measure. He pointed that living with COVID-19 is a stark reality now and people must learn to live with the pandemic until a cure or vaccine is found. The other two Ministers – Pu K. Lalrinliana and Pu Lalruatkima also spoke to the media.

Ministers and officials present took a number of questions from the journalists of the print and electronic media.

As many as 6376 stranded residents and students of Mizoram have reached home by special Shramik trains from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Goa and other parts of the country. All of them are currently under quarantine in government facilities and church halls. A few cases have been allowed Home Quarantine, after proper verification by Local Task Forces and on the merit of their cases. 1360 persons are enroute to Mizoram from Maharashtra while another 1000 people have registered to come back home from Delhi and adjoining areas. There have also been a number of arrivals by road from Kolkata and the neighbouring states of Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur. Such arrivals have also been placed under the mandatory 14-day quarantine period in institutional facilities across the state.

So far 1012 samples have been tested; the majority at the Testing Laboratory at ZMC after it was approved by ICMR on 7th April 2020. Procurement of four more RT PCR machines is currently under way to boost testing infrastructure in the state. Two TruNAT machines were installed last week at Lunglei to cater to the testing needs of the southern parts of Mizoram.