Covid-19 numbers continued to deteriorate in Meghalaya, with 597 new cases, 288 recoveries and 10 fatalities recorded today. This took the number of active cases back over 5,000 for the first time since June 7.
East Khasi Hills recorded 242 new cases today (59 of which were in Mawlai cluster alone), West Garo Hills 105, West Jaintia Hills 62, Ri-Bhoi 54, West Khasi Hills 51, South West Khasi Hills 18, North Garo Hills 18, East Garo Hills 17, East Jaintia Hills 13, South Garo Hills nine and South West Garo Hills eight.
West Garo Hills accounted for 107 recoveries, East Khasi Hills 53, Ri-Bhoi 23, West Jaintia Hills 20, East Garo Hills 19, South Garo Hills 14, South West Khasi Hills 13, North Garo Hills 13, West Khasi Hills 13, South West Garo Hills 10 and East Jaintia Hills three.
Five fatalities were recorded in East Khasi Hills, three in West Garo Hills and one each in West Jaintia Hills and South Garo Hills.
The sudden rise in Covid cases and fatalities since July 19 has caused grave concern, with senior Congress MLA, Ampareen Lyngdoh, saying, “The numbers of coronavirus cases are not just rising, but the death toll too and we need to figure out why we are not able to overcome this problem. The government needs to get on top of this otherwise the problem will be repeated again and again.”
She also said that charging the public for Covid tests puts them off from getting a diagnosis. The high cost of treatment, especially in private hospitals, is another reason why the public are slow to get treatment even if they are experiencing symptoms, Lyngdoh added.
The opposition legislator also said that when the state government reviewed and took a call on hospital bills, it segregated important interventions that should have been included in the cost cap, including oxygen, essential tests, etc.
“Hospital bills are still exorbitant and beyond the public’s ability to pay,” she said, adding that another problem is that people who tested positive are still allowed home quarantine, which can create a lot of other issues.
There are now 5,007 active Covid-19 cases in the state. East Khasi Hills alone accounts for 1,796 active cases, West Garo Hills 944, Ri-Bhoi 598, West Jaintia Hills 539, West Khasi Hills 309, South West Khasi Hills 288, North Garo Hills 150, East Garo Hills 109, South West Garo Hills 93, South Garo Hills 91 and East Jaintia Hills 90.
In all, Meghalaya has had 61,194 Covid-19 cases, of which 5,007 are active, 55,163 have recovered and 1,024 have died from the virus. The recovery rate has declined to 90.14 percent. The fatality rate stayed level at 1.67 percent. The seven-day rolling average for new cases jumped to 543.71 (the highest it has been since June 4) and has increased for new deaths to 11.29.
