Meghalaya: 1 more dies of COVID-19, 99 test positive

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 10, 2020

A woman, who tested positive for COVID-19 succumbed to the viral infection, taking the death toll to 20, even as 99 new positive cases were detected on Thursday, taking the count to 1,434.

38-year-old Swatika Paul, a resident of Laban, was declared brought dead to Nazareth hospital, Director of Health Services (MI), Dr Aman War said.

He said the swab samples of Paul, which were collected at the hospital after she died, tested positive for COVID-19. The deceased was a known case of diabetes and hypertension.

“She was unwell for the last 2-3 days and she passed away before reaching the hospital and was declared brought dead at around 6.30 am today,” he said.  

Dr War also urged people especially having comorbidities to take extra precautions. “They are also advised to seek medical help even if they have slight fever. This will help in reducing the mortality rate due to COVID-19,” he said.

He informed that the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) will start telemedicine to people, especially positive cases who are staying at home on whether they require hospitalization.

“At the same time, we also urge people, who are having children and elderly citizens in their families, to strictly follow the three cardinal protocols of wearing a mask, maintain physical distancing and hand hygiene when they come from outside,” he added.

The senior medical officer said that of the new 99 cases detected today, 40 were from East Khasi Hills district, 27 from East Jaintia Hills district, 18 from West Garo Hills district, 11 from Ri Bhoi district and 1 each from West Jaintia Hills district, West Khasi Hills district and South West Garo Hills district.

He said the break up of the new cases include 26 high risk cases, 8 influenza like illness (ILI) cases, 1 health worker and 4 returnees are from East Khasi Hills, 26 random sampling at Star Cement factory and 1 Umtyra Residential School in East Jaintia Hills, 8 Armed Forces/Paramilitary Forces, 2 high risk cases and 1 ILI case in Ri Bhoi, 1 high risk in West Khasi Hills, 1 high risk in South West Garo Hills and 1 civilian in West Jaintia Hills.

Out of the 19 recoveries on Thursday, 17, including 16 AF/PF and 1 civilian from West Garo Hills district, 1 from Ri Bhoi and 1 from East Garo Hills.

So far, the state has recorded 3,296 positive cases of which 1,434 are active, 1,842 recovered and 20 have died due to the disease.

East Khasi Hills has the highest number of active cases with 899 cases that include 747 civilians and 152 AF/PF, followed by West Garo Hills with 194 cases, 127 in Ri Bhoi, 32 in West Khasi Hills, 1 in South West Khasi Hills, 12 in West Jaintia Hills, 112 in East Jaintia Hills, 6 in South West Garo Hills, 20 in South Garo Hills, 22 in East Garo Hills and 9 in North Garo Hills.

Till date, a total of 1,06064 samples have been tested, out of which 1,02477 were found to be negative while test results of 881 are awaited. There are 34,853 entrants from outside the state.