Every one in eight people who take a Covid-19 test in East Khasi Hills is testing positive for the disease, which is an unacceptably high positivity rate, health professionals said today.
Sixty-three per cent of all Covid cases in the state have come from East Khasi Hills and the second wave is hitting the district, and state as a whole, particularly hard. At a press conference today, District Surveillance Officer Dr Robert Marak informed that, as of yesterday, out of the total of 654 hospital beds 366 were occupied and 298 still vacant.
Dr Marak also said that while the Covishield vaccine does not impart total protection, none of those who were vaccinated and who subsequently caught the disease have lost their lives or even had to go to hospital.
The second wave of the coronavirus is also very different from the first in that many more younger people are succumbing to the virus.
“It has also affected those who do not have co-morbidities,” Dr A Lyngdoh, Additional District Medical and Health Officer, said.
“Now we are at war with an unseen enemy, an enemy which transmits to us through our friends and spread to others also through us,” Dr Marak stated, adding that the only way to fight Covid is through containment and vaccination.
East Khasi Hills health authorities also informed that there are 66,382 people in Shillong who are 45 year and older, out of which 38,777 have got at least one dose of the vaccine. Around 66 per cent of frontline workers and healthcare workers in Greater Shillong have also been vaccinated so far.
The East KHasi Hills district administration also informed that it is gearing up towards providing home management for asymptomatic patients.
“Now the Health Department is preparing to set up home-based management teams. The NHM (National Health Mission) is calling for nurses and those who have passed their nursing to come forward and become community volunteers for home-based isolation,” Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo said.
The idea is to treat those with milder symptoms at home only, thus taking pressure off hospitals.
