Shillong, Sep 16 : There was no let-up in the surge of Covid-19 cases in Meghalaya, with another 159 new infections reported
today, taking total active cases to 1,902. Today also saw 74 recoveries.
For the first time since September 8, however, there were no deaths reported from the disease.
There were 106 new Covid cases in East Khasi Hills, with 97 civilians and nine jawans testing positive, including one more case in the Chief Minister’s official residence. Earlier, a private driver staying on the premises had tested positive for Covid-19. The new patient
is a close contact of the driver. There are now more than 1,000 active cases among civilians in the district.
Thirty-four new infections were reported from East Jaiñtia Hills, with 33 of these coming from the blighted Star Cement factory in
Lumshnong. There have been a total of 210 cases to come out of this plant.
Ri-Bhoi, meanwhile, recorded eight cases, West Garo Hills six (four jawans, two civilians), West Khasi Hills two, South West Garo Hills two and East Garo Hills one.
Meanwhile, Director of Health Services Dr Aman War said that in order to ramp up testing, the government will not only need to
purchase more equipment but also hire more microbiologists.
“If more machines are procured, microbiologists have to be appointed,” Dr.War said at his daily briefing.The state has only five
microbiologists at the moment, he added.
According to the Health Department, East Khasi Hills had 93 new infections seen in high-risk contacts, two in health workers, one in a returnee and one with influenza like illness (ILI).
In Ri-Bhoi there were seven infections among high-risk contacts and one returnee, while two returnees in West Garo Hills, one
returnee and one high-risk contact in South West Garo Hills, one high-risk contact and one health worker in West Khasi Hills and one high-risk contact in East Garo Hills tested positive for the virus.
East Khasi Hills also recorded 40 recoveries, split 25 to 15 between jawans and civilians. East Garo Hills, meanwhile, saw its active caseload plummet as 15 out of 18 infected people were declared to have recovered from Covid-19. There were also 12 recoveries
in West Garo Hills (11 jawans, one civilian), four in West Khasi Hills, two in South Garo Hills and one in North Garo Hills.
