AIZAWL, March 31 - Twenty-eight Indian citizens who were stranded on a bridge that connects Myanmar and India, were on Sunday night brought back to Mizoram after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs gave the State Government a green signal.
These Mizoram residents, including 11 children, had spent the last several days on the bridge before the Union Ministry finally granted the Mizoram Government�s request to bring them back. They had gone to the neighbouring country to visit their relatives long before the international border was sealed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Champhai district administration immediately informed the State Government of the matter, who then took the humanitarian issue with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. After the Union Ministry granted permission, the stranded travellers were allowed to cross the border late on Sunday night.
They were taken to a facility at the Champhai Deputy Commissioner�s office where they have been quarantined.
No new COVID-19 case: Mizoram Health Minister Dr R Lalthangliana today said that the last 15 samples sent to the Silchar Medical College for COVID-19 have tested negative.
�With this, 44 samples have been sent so far, of which only one was positive. We believe that we have so far managed to prevent community transmission of the disease,� he said.
The minister reiterated that the condition of the COVID-19 patient being treated at the Zoram Medical College is stable.
Lalthangliana claimed that Mizoram was the first State to conduct screening at the airport. He thanked the people of Mizoram for their full support to the ongoing 21-day lockdown. �I believe Mizoram tops the rest of India as far as compliance to the lockdown is concerned,� the minister added.
He also thanked the local-level task forces for their cooperation with the State Government. �Thanks to them, we have not faced any problem regarding essential commodities,� he said.
These task forces are providing essential commodities to residents in their respective areas, including stranded migrant workers. According to official records, there are 1,977 migrant workers, mostly from Assam, stranded in different parts of Mizoram.
The Health Minister said the Zoram Medical College has been designated as a COVID-19 hospital.