Aizawl: A 57-year-old man, a resident of the state capital, who tested positive for COVID-19, is the first case of a non-returnee coronavirus patient in Mizoram, a Health department official said on Saturday.
State health department spokesperson on Covid-19, Dr Pachuau Lalmasawma told PTI that the patient was among the three persons, who were diagnosed with Covid-19, on Friday night.
“We have mistakenly reported him to be a returnee due to misinformation. But later we came to learn that the patient is a bus conductor of Mizoram State Transport (MST), who used to transport stranded people from Bairabi railway station to various places in the state,” he said.
Of the total 107 COVID-19 cases reported in Mizoram, except the 57-year-old all others have returned to the state from outside.
Earlier, a resident of Aizawl, had been placed under institutional quarantine facility in Aizawl for 14 days and was discharged for home quarantine after his Rapid Antibody Test (RAT) result showed non-reactive, he said.
The patient, who also has diabetes, was admitted at ZMC on Wednesday when he had complained of fever, Pachuau said.
“His sample was tested along with 402 others and came out as positive along with two other people on Friday night,” he said.
Pachuau, who is also state nodal officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), said that there is nothing to panic as it is not difficult to trace people, who came in contact with the patient.
Meanwhile, Aizawl Hospital and Research Centre in Aizawls Khatla locality has been sealed as a precautionary measure.
Aizawl Hospital and Research Centre managing director Dr Lalrinawma Hnamte informed PTI that the hospital has been locked for outsiders until further as a precaution and to trace people, who came in contact with the patient.
He said that the newly infected Covid-19 patient visited the hospital on Monday for malarial and urinary tract infections (UTI) test.
As he was diagnosed with UTI, the patient was admitted at Aizawl Hospital and Research Centre on Wednesday. But when he revealed that he was a bus conductor taking part in transporting stranded people from Bairabi and insisted on a throat swab test, we approached the health officials and immediately referred to ZMC on the same day, Hnamte told PTI.
He said that samples of at least 25 people, including staff of Aizawl Hospital and Research Centre, were collected on Saturday for a test.
A leader of a local council in Aizawl where the patient lives said on condition of anonymity that the patients residence has been completely sealed with permission from the state government as a precautionary measure. PTI
