New Delhi: A tiny state with an estimated 12 lakh population, over one lakh people have been infected and tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in northeastern Mizoram.
Officials said 1,471 more people tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, October 6.
Mizoram population in 2011 was only around 10.91 lakh.
An estimate says – at least 92 people per 1,000 population have already been infected with Covid-19. The Central government has deputed a four-member team that will virtually hold a review meeting with all the district chief medical officers.
The rate of recovery or discharge ratio was fairly poor, at around 84 per cent. While states like Maharashtra have a 97 per cent discharge ratio, the average national discharge figures were 97.94 per cent.
Among other northeastern states – Tripura has 84,204 infected cases, Meghalaya – 81,955, Arunachal Pradesh – 54,771 19, Sikkim – 31,561 and Nagaland 31,342. Assam, of course, has so far 6,03,623 infected cases.
The team headed by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) consultant-epidemiologist, Dr Vinita Gupta, is visiting the Champhai district today (October 7) along the India-Myanmar border, where a large number of 'Myanmar refugees' are now residing.
The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 336 by Wednesday late evening.
On October 6 (Wednesday), the figures stood as – total cases – 1,01,327; Discharged – 85,925.
The active cases figure stood at 15006, and officials said the recovery rate was 84.80 per cent as 938 were discharged between Tuesday and Wednesday evening hours.
One official also said that – out of 336 deaths, 283 casualties (84.23 per cent) had comorbidities (simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient).
At least 92 people per 1,000 population have already been infected, and the state administration has tested more than 11.40 lakh samples for Covid-19 so far.
Over 6.83 lakh people have thus far been vaccinated, of whom 4.55 lakh people have received both doses, the Mizoram Immunisation department has said.
Village leaders in the Champhai district have temporarily sealed the Mizoram-Myanmar border entry points following a spurt in Covid-19 cases along the international border.
As many as 594 cases were reported positive from 11 villages within the East Tuipui assembly constituency in the southern part of Champhai district.
Sources said 40 refugees tested positive for Covid in three out of 21 villages in the locality.
However, there was no separate categorisation between local residents and refugees in the rest of the villages while recording Covid data.
The Mizoram government has officially informed the centre that over 20,000 Myanmar refugees have been residing in the state which neighbours Myanmar's Chin province by mid-September.
