Meghalaya: A COVID-19 case each in four districts
A 70-year-old man with no travel history from a village in Ri Bhoi district was among four persons who have been tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday taking the total number of active cases in the state to 29.
“An elderly citizen who had come from Ri Bhoi district has tested positive for COVID-19. The person was isolated on arrival and is presently in Shillong. Person is stable and under supervision…,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said.
Sangma informed that the 70-year-old man was admitted in Dr H Gordon Roberts Hospital, Shillong, three-four days back. “Any acute respiratory cases by default are taken as suspected cases…so that protocol has been strictly followed and the person has been kept in isolation since day one,” he said.
Asked if community transmission has started in the state, the chief minister however said, “I don’t want to conclude in that manner…there are cases like these so therefore, one cannot conclude like that right now as it will be incorrect. I think it is very clear that obviously there must be some travel history of somebody in the family. We are on the job (to do the contact tracing) but most important is that the person has been kept in isolation and we will ensure all protocols are followed.”
Later, the Chief Minister also tweeted that another three returnees have been tested positive for COVID-19.
“Three more residents who returned to the State from Delhi and Chennai have tested positive for COVID19. All of them are under quarrantine and are asymptomatic.
3 more returnees tested positive today, all are Male include 1 in Tura, 1 in Shillong and 1 from Jowai.
On the other hand, Health Minister AL Hek told reporters that the health department is already on the job to conduct contact tracing of the elderly person, who has no travel history.
“We will also get his son-in-law, who is a driver, tested for COVID-19,” he said while informing that the department is also checking the travel history of the son-in-law, if he has recently come from outside the state.
Asked, the minister said that the family members of the elderly man have also been advised to go for home quarantine.
Urging the citizens not to panic, Hek said that the department is fully prepared to handle the situation in case there is any community transmission in the state.
“People should not be panicky at all as the disease is curable but I would appeal to all of them to strictly follow the protocols issued by the health department in order to prevent further spread of the coronavirus in the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister informed that the total samples collected and sent for testing is 11,492 out of which 11,202 were negative while test results of 250 are awaited.
With fresh cases, he said the number of positive cases in the state has now gone up to 43 including 13 recovered and 1 deceased.
Earlier, the state government has also issued protocols to ensure health safety of all elderly people in the state.
It may be mentioned here that the state recorded its first patient on April 13, a 69-year-old doctor with no records of traveling history.
While he died two days later, eight of his immediate family have also tested positive for COVID-19 infections along with 3 of their domestic helps and a friend too. They have all recovered since.
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