State Health Minister apologises to returnees
Newmai News Network
Aizawl | June 15
Due to inadequate COVID-19 sample testing facilities in Mizoram, many returnees who have completed their quarantine periods have to prolong their stay in quarantine centres as they are still waiting for the results of sample testing.
For this reason, Mizoram Health Minister Dr R Lalthangaliana apologised to those returnees on June 15 while inspecting various quarantine centres in the State.
The testing process could not be expedited as of now because installation of automated RNA extractor machines is still underway, he said.
At present, the Mizoram government is running two RT-PCR machines at Zoram Medical College (ZMC) in Aizawl to test samples for COVID-19. Similar machines will soon arrive in the State and one of them will be installed in Lunglei to cater to the needs of people, Dr Lalthangaliana said.
“We hope that our testing ratio will increase once the new machines are installed,” he added.
The minister further informed that at least 116 COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment in different parts of the State.
Of the 116 patients, 43 are currently undergoing treatment at Zoram Medical College and their conditions of all the 116 patients are stable, he added.
Meanwhile, 8884 people are in quarantine centres across Mizoram. The Health Minister said that they are in institutional and community quarantine centres. Many people are also under home quarantine and in hotels.
All of them are being monitored by the concerned authorities to make sure that no one violates the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), he said.
Meanwhile, about 2000 stranded people will be returning soon to the State, according to an official source.
