Two cancer patients from Mizoram tested positive for novel coronavirus in Calcutta on Friday.

An official of Mizoram House in Calcutta said the two patients, aged 72 and 63, were undergoing treatment at Amri Hospital since their arrival in mid-March. He said they were tracing the patients’ contacts and the inmates of Mizoram House would be sent to quarantine facilities. He said they were in contact with both the governments abut the two infected patients.

Earlier, in Mumbai, seven people from Mizoram, included three cancer patients, lodged at Mizoram House there, and a local staff had tested positive. Five of the eight patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. They are now under quarantine at designated facilities. The remaining three are out of danger, officials of state health department said.n

Dr Rosangluaia, president of the Mizoram branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), told The Telegraph here on Friday that a recent meeting of IMA and the Mizoram Government Doctors’ Association had proposed extension of the lockdown for another month but with relaxations. They also suggested strict vigilance along the border, adherence to social distancing norms and imposition of curfew between 7pm and 5am during the extended lockdown. He said they submitted the proposal to health minister Dr R. Lalthangliana on Thursday.

The doctors’ meeting observed that Mizoram was more or less free from the pandemic as no new case or local transmission had been detected in the state since the first case on March 24. The 50-year-old man is recovering at Zoram Medical College.

On Friday, Zoramthanga asked home department officials and security forces to maintain strict vigilance along the borders.

An official said the government was yet to consider the proposal. Earlier, chief minister Zoramthanga had said his government would go by the Centre’s decision.