22 new COVID-19 cases in Mizoram, tally rises to 1,713

Aizawl, September 23 (PTI): At least 22 people including 16 BSF jawans have tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, taking the state''s virus caseload to 1,713, an official said on Wednesday.

Sixteen Border Security Force (BSF) jawans posted at Lunglei and Serchhip, one non-state resident construction worker and the five state residents tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24-hours, the official said.

Eleven cases were reported from Lunglei district, six from Serchhip district and five cases from Aizawl district, he said.

The five patients from Aizawl have no travel history and contracted the virus during contact tracing between September 16-18 while 16 BSF jawans and a worker of a private construction company have come from other states, he said.

All the 22 patients aged between 15 and 57 years were out of danger as they were asymptomatic, he added.

Of the total 1,713, COVID-19 cases, 690 are active as 1,023 people have already recovered from the virus.

The recovery rate is 59.72 per cent, the official said, adding that Mizoram has so far not reported any COVID-19 death.

As many as 64,312 samples have been tested for COVID- 19 till Tuesday evening, the health department said.

Meanwhile, the Aizawl district administration has declared Bawngkawn locality as containment zone following the detection of 37 new COVID-19 cases from the neighbourhood on Tuesday.