COVID-19 tally crosses 600 mark, a cause of worry for Meghalaya: DHS

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 25, 2020

The surge in the number of people especially civilians infected by the COVID-19 has become a big cause of worry for the state government.

The state’s COVID-19 tally has crossed 600 on Saturday after 59 more persons have contracted the infection as confirmed by the RT-PCR tests conducted till 1 pm today.

Director of Health Services (MI) Dr Aman War told reporters that 54 including 48 civilians and 6 BSF troopers are from East Khasi Hills while 4 are police personnel in East Jaintia Hills and a returnee from Assam in West Jaintia Hills.

“With the new cases detected, the number of active cases in the state has increased to 547,” he said.

Shillong, the district headquarters of East Khasi Hills as well as the state’s capital, has the highest number of active cases at 466. Of these, 286 are BSF troopers, 159 are civilians and 21 are armed forces personnel.

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There are 41 active cases in Ri Bhoi, 15 in West Garo Hills, 9 in West Jaintia Hills, 8 in East Jaintia Hills, 4 in South West Garo Hills, 2 in South Garo Hills, 1 in East Garo Hills and 1 in North Garo Hills.

Asked, Dr War said that the sudden increase in the number of cases is a cause of worry for the state government and the health department.

“Definitely it is worrying and that is why we have decided to go for a total lockdown in the Shillong agglomeration,” he said.

The Director however maintained that there is no community spread in the state. “We still have a strong belief that community spread has not happened as yet but if people do not refrain from unnecessary venturing out of their homes then it will be a big worry for us,” he said.

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Seven BSF personnel have also recovered taking the total number of recoveries to 97.

As on Saturday, 32,783 swab samples have been sent for testing out of which 31, 469 tested negative while outcome of 668 is still awaited. There are 23,817 entrants to the state from outside till date.

The state has so far registered a total of 646 COVID-19 cases while five patients have succumbed to the disease.