The Mizoram government on Friday extended lockdown till May 31 to check the spread of coronavirus infection, an official said.

The decision was taken after various political parties and several organisations, including those of NGOs, churches and doctors, favoured extension of the lockdown at a meeting on Thursday, he said.

At a meeting of various task groups on Covid-19 presided over by Chief Secretary Lalnunmawi Chuango, it was decided that the lockdown will be extended beyond May 17, the official said.

New guidelines for extended lockdown too was discussed in the meeting, he added.

A task group was formed to study about extending insurance cover to frontline workers such as police, village or local-level task force volunteers, government employees on special duty and those who pick garbage from quarantine facilities, the official said.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga who presided over Thursday’s meeting had said that extending the lockdown was crucial to ensure public safety, although the state has been declared green zone after its lone patient recovered on May 9.

The patient, who had a travel history to Netherlands, tested positive for Covid-19 on March 24.

Mizoram began testing of samples for Covid-19 at Zoram Medical College (ZMC) on April 7. Total 202 samples have been tested so far and all were found to be negative.