A study has revealed that as many as 85 per cent of COVID-19 positive cases in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl transmitted through close contact with friends and neighbours, a health department official said Wednesday.
The study conducted by medical operational team on Covid-19, headed by ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) MLA Dr ZR Thiamsanga during lockdown, has revealed that 85 per cent of Covid-19 positive cases in Aizawl, resulted from neighbours visiting each other and meeting friends in the same neighbourhood, despite restrictions imposed during lockdown, the official said.
He said that the nature of Covid-19 transmission from least 14 localities of Aizawl was studied during the exercise.
According to the officials, people in the same neighbourhood often visit each other, meet and interact with each other during lockdown, which was one of the main reasons behind rising Covid-19 cases in the state, despite lockdown being imposed for nearly 2 months to break the chain of transmission.
The study also found that Covid-19 positive case was nil among people, who regularly and appropriately wears masks.
Also read: African Swine Fever kills over 5,000 pigs in Mizoram
Transmission rate was low among those, who strictly adhered to Covid-19 protocols or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), he said.
Meanwhile, state nodal officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Dr Pachuau Lalmalsawma said that as many as 9,520 Covid-19 cases were reported between April 1 and June 7.
Of this, 1, 325 patients have travel history, while 8,195 were found to have locally contracted the infection.
Among the locally infected patients, 5,376 have contacts with Covid-19 positive patients and it is to ascertain how the remaining 2,819 patients contracted the infection, he said.
He said that 56% of the Covid-19 patients have developed symptoms of Covid-19 while 44 per cent were asymptomatic.