India

Aizawl, October 06: The northeastern state currently ranks fourth on the Centre’s list of worst Covid-19 hit states in India. The Covid-19 spotlight is once again on the northeast as Mizoram’s virus tally breached the 1 lakh mark on Wednesday with 1,471 more people testing positive for the infection. It comes after Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The situation in the tiny northeastern state, which has a population of around 10.91 lakh as per the 2011 Census, is so dire that the Centre has sent a four-member team that will virtually hold a review meeting with all the district chief medical officers to assess the situation.

The team headed by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) consultant-epidemiologist, Dr Vinita Gupta, Thursday will also visit Champhai district along the India-Myanmar border, where thousands of refugees from the neighbouring country are currently residing.

The state’s coronavirus death toll rose to 335 as four more patients succumbed to the infection. The fresh infections pushed Mizoram’s caseload to 1,01,327. The state reported 210 fewer cases than Tuesday, while the single-day positivity rate dipped to 15.36 per cent from 18 per cent on the previous day, he said.


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With the fresh cases, at least 92 people per 1,000 population have already been infected with Covid-19. The state now has 16,005 active cases, while 84,987 people have been cured of the disease so far, including 1,369 on Tuesday, the official said, adding that the recovery rate stood at 83.87 per cent, while the death rate was at 0.33 per cent. The administration has tested more than 11.40 lakh samples for Covid-19 so far, including 9,577 on the previous day.

Over 6.83 lakh people have thus far been vaccinated, of whom 4.55 lakh people have received both doses, State Immunisation Officer Dr Lalzawmi said. Aizawl has to date registered the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 64,589, followed by Lunglei (7,577) and Kolasib (7,177). Of the 335 coronavirus fatalities, Aizawl recorded the highest at 249, followed by Kolasib (21) and Lawngtlai (21).

Of the 11 districts in the state, Khawzawl has not reported any Covid-19 death so far.