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Coronavirus outbreak: Mizoram pastor, who recently travelled to Amsterdam, tests positive

Authorities in Mizoram and Assam said that the patient, a 50-year-old pastor, had returned to Delhi from Amsterdam, flying via Doha on March 15.

A 50-year-old pastor tested positive in Mizoram — making it the second COVID-19 case in the Northeast. (PTI Photo)

A 50-year-old pastor in Mizoram, who recently travelled to Amsterdam, tested positive for the novel coronavirus late on Tuesday night. This is the second reported positive case in the Northeast, the first being Manipur.

Authorities in Mizoram and Assam told The Indian Express that the patient had returned to Delhi flying via Doha on March 15. The next day, he flew to Guwahati and changed flights to reach Aizawl. On March 18, he had fever and reportedly told his wife that he had been feeling unwell in Amsterdam too, before travelling. He isolated himself at home on showing symptoms, officials said.

READ | India lockdown: Groceries, pharmacies, ATMs, here’s a list of exemptions

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Mizoram Health Minister R Lalthangliana addressed a press conference in Aizawl on Wednesday to confirm the development. The minister said that while in Amsterdam, the patient had spoken to a doctor friend of his, who then sent him the quarantine guidelines issued by the Indian government.

On March 21, he informed Mizoram’s Health Department officials, who came the next day to take his samples. On Tuesday night, the samples tested positive at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital. The patient was immediately shifted to the isolation ward of the Zoram Medical College in the Mizoram. His wife and two kids were also put in isolation wards, while officials have decided to disinfect the house.

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None of his family members have exhibited symptoms till now and the patient’s fever condition has shown improvement, the minister said.

The doctor, who had visited him at home, has also been put in self-quarantine, as a precautionary measure. Contact tracing is underway and efforts are on to trace his co-passengers on the flights he took in India.

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Villages and localities in Mizoram have formed community-level special ‘task forces’, with participants from powerful NGOs and churches, to keep an eye on persons from financially weaker sections of the society, who might suffer due to any shortage of essential supplies.

READ | ‘Virus will stay; difficult to lock down for long’

On Tuesday, a 23-year-old Manipuri woman, a medical student in the UK, tested positive, following which the Manipur government imposed an indefinite curfew to prohibit people from coming out of their homes.

Here’s a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: Are smokers at high risk form coronavirus? | Can Vitamin-C prevent or cure coronavirus infection? | What exactly is community spread of coronavirus? | How long can the Covid-19 virus survive on a surface? | Amid the lockdown, what is allowed, what is prohibited?

First uploaded on: 25-03-2020 at 15:01 IST
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