Cabinet minister and Amlarem MLA Lahkmen Rymbui held a meeting today with representatives of the West Jaiñtia Hills district administration to review the Covid-19 situation in Darrang village.
Darrang, Shnongpdeng Lymba, Kongwang, Dawki and Bakur have all been declared as containment zones. These villages account for the majority of the 84 active coronavirus cases in the district.
“We know that Darrang is a very congested village. There are around 190 households, out of which around 28 have been affected,” the local MLA said.
At the meeting the minister held discussions with the district administration and Health Department on the situation and the steps to be taken to ease the problems faced by the villagers in the containment zone.
At present there are 44 cases in Darrang but the results of more than 200 samples have yet to come back. Given that the caseload in the area is rising, the Deputy Commissioner has written to the National Health Mission to request for additional lab technicians to collect and process the samples.
There was also a discussion at the meeting on the need of the Sub-Divisional Officer to coordinate with the Dorbar Shnong on ways and means to ease the plight of the villagers who are now facing economic difficulties after being placed in containment.
“I want to see what interventions from the authorities are needed so that the general containment zone can be lifted as early as possible and micro-containment zones created instead in order to get life back to normal for as many people as possible,” Rymbui said. “But, as of now, since the process of testing is still ongoing, we have to wait and watch. We have to be cautious and cannot take anything for granted.”
According to preliminary reports, a woman from Ri-Bhoi visited Darrang recently for a funeral. On her return to Ri-Bhoi it emerged that she was Covid-positive. She is believed to be patient zero in this particular outbreak.
Despite the containment orders, exceptions have been issued to keep trade with Bangladesh going, with protocols issued specifically to keep exports and imports flowing.
