Aizawl, 17 Sept (NNN): The Mizoram government on Thursday extended partial lockdown in Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) area for another three days till Sunday to facilitate tracing of people, who came in contact with Covid-19 positive patients, health minister Dr R Lalthangliana said.
The decision was made at the meeting of important officials, leaders of churches and Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), Lalthangliana said.
“There are many backlogs as far as contact tracing in Aizawl city area is concerned. So, in order to facilitate and expedite the process of contact tracing and collection of samples from people, who came in contact with positive patients, the partial lockdown in AMC area has been extended till Sunday,” he said.
The minister said that all the backlog samples, which have been already collected, would also be tested during the extended lockdown.
According to the health minister, sample testing for Covid-19 has begun at Zoram Medical College (ZMC) with the help of RT-PCR machines since April 7.
The state government also started Covid-19 testing at Lunglei civil hospital in the southern part of the state using TrueNat machine from June 12.
He added that TrueNat machines are being installed in 10 districts barring Aizawl.
Meanwhile, an official of state health department said that a total of 13,812 samples were collected in AMC area during the partial lockdown which began on September 11.
Of the 13,812 samples 5,751 have been tested and results declared, he said.
So far, 125 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in AMC area during a week-long partial lockdown, he added.