Mizoram: 528 inmates of rehab centre test positive for COVID-19

AIZAWL:

An orphanage cum rehabilitation centre in Mizoram has detected more than 500 new COVID-19 cases, reported official sources.

Mizoram medical operational team chairman and Mizo National Front (MNF) ruling legislator Dr ZR Thiamsanga informed that Thutak Nupuitu Team (TNT), a privately run orphanage-cum-de-addiction (rehab) centre located at Zuangtui’s Muanna Veng in the northern fringes of Aizawl, recorded 528 new COVID-19 cases during mass screening on Sunday.

Dr ZR Thiamsanga said as many as 662 new cases were reported across the state in the last 24 hours, which is the highest single-day spike in the state and of the 662 fresh cases, 528 were detected at Thutak Nupuitu Team.

According to Thiamsanga, the state government conducted a mass screening at the centre on Sunday after the recent detection of COVID cases in five inmates.

"During an interaction with the management of the centre and contact tracing on Sunday, we (believed) that the virus could have spread to other inmates on a large scale, which prompted us to conduct mass screening on the day itself," he said.

The orphanage home cum de-addiction/rehab centre, which is run by an individual named Dr Sangthankima, has about 1,500 inmates (children and adults), including caregivers, informed Thiamsanga. 

Thiamsanga said that 989 samples were tested during mass screening at the centre on Sunday and 53.38 per cent of them came out as positive for the virus, adding that about 150 patients have developed mild symptoms and the rest were asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, Muanna Veng has been declared as a containment zone by the Aizawl district administration. Some compartments of the centre have been converted into Community COVID-19 Care Centres (CCCC).

(Edited by Aparmita Das)

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