All COVID-19 patients in Assam had attended the Nizamuddin congregation in Delhi (File)
At least 15 COVID-19 cases have emerged in Assam in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of people infected with the novel coronavirus to 16 in the state. All of them had been to Delhi's Nizamuddin recently to attend a meeting of the Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat.
Arunachal Pradesh also reported its first positive case of COVID-19. Sources said the patient from Lohit district is in quarantine. Seven others are in quarantine and their samples have been sent for testing. All of them had travelled to Delhi together in December from Tinsukia in Assam. They returned to Arunachal Pradesh on March 19, sources said.
On Tuesday night, Assam reported its first positive case of COVID-19 after a 52-year-old man from Karimganj was found infected.
On Wednesday, the state reported four more positive cases, one from Nalbari and three from Morigaon. Eight more people who were tested at Jorhat Medical College were found positive. All of them are from Golaghat district. At midnight, three more cases were confirmed at Goalpara.
Till Monday, Assam did not have a single COVID-19 positive case.
In Manipur, one person who returned from Delhi after attending the Nizamuddin meet was tested positive. This is the second COVID-19 positive case in Manipur.
A 23-year-old girl who returned from the UK had earlier tested positive in Manipur. Her sample tested positive for a second time on Wednesday.
Mizoram has one positive case. With this, the north-east has a total of 20 positive cases.
Assam leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state got a list of 547 people who were around Nizamuddin in Delhi. The government is unable to trace 117 people since either their phones are switched off or their family members are not cooperating.
"Out of 347 people who came back, we have been able to trace 230 people. We are looking for the rest. We have collected samples of 196 people and sent to five tasting labs," Mr Sarma said.
All those people whose samples test negative will be kept in quarantine for 14 days, Mr Sarma added.