Aizawl, June 7 (PTI): Ten people, who had recently returned from New Delhi, tested positive for Covid-19 in Mizoram, taking the total number of cases in the state to 34, an official said on Sunday.
Of the fresh patients, seven were from Mamit district, two from Lawngtlai and one from Aizawl.
"The new patients were quarantined after they had come back from New Delhi recently. They were asymptomatic," the official said.
These patients were shifted to various hospitals including the Zoram Medical College (ZMC), a dedicated facility for treatment of coronavirus-infected people.
Currently, there are 33 active cases in Mizoram, while a person who tested positive after returning from Amsterdam in March has recovered from the disease.
A total of 250 samples were tested on Saturday, and efforts are on to increase the number of test in the state, a health department official said.
Two RT-PCR machines have been installed at the ZMC for Covid-19 test.
State health minister Dr. R Lalthangliana said the government is in the process of procuring two more RT-PCR machines and an automated RNA extractor apparatus.
"We hope to increase our testing ratio and test over 1,000 samples in a day, once the new machines are installed," he said.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique is highly sensitive and specific and can deliver a reliable diagnosis fast.
The minister urged people not to panic as all the cases reported in the state so far are "imported", and appealed to them to follow the norms to contain the spread of the disease.
"There is no local transmission till date," he said.
Two Truenat machines, which were recently installed at Lunglei civil hospital, have been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Covid-19 test, he said.
"Testing will start soon at the hospital in Lunglei," he added.