Shillong to be under complete lockdown for 2 days to contain COVID-19, declares CM
Guwahati: Amid a steady and alarming rise in the number of COVID-19 in Shillong, the Meghalaya Government has decided to impose complete lockdown in the capital city on the next two working days -- July 13 and 14 -- with a view to arresting the spread of the contagious disease.
"The Government has decided to observe the next two working days i.e on the 13 & 14th of July, 2020 as Total #Lockdown in the Shillong City agglomeration. During this time, Shillong city and surrounding areas shall be under curfew till 6 AM on the 15th of July, 2020", the state's Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma wrote in a tweet.
According to reports, the lockdown will be used to trace the contacts of the cases reported in Shillong, which has seen a major spike in the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the past one week.
"This will be a "#lockdown of the virus through Behaviour Change". This period will be used for tracing the contacts of the positive persons who are in Shillong so that further spread may be contained. I urge everyone to strictly adhere to the lockdown so the virus can be isolated", Sangma proclaimed in another tweet.
Meghalaya, after a brief lull, has been witnessing a dramatic surge in cases, although the number of deaths remains fixed at 2. The hilly state registered 76 more cases of COVID-19 on Saturday -- a dramatic rise. After the detection of these fresh cases, the number of active cases saw a massive bump and rose to 215.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally touched 8,20,916 with the biggest single-day increase of 27,114 on Saturday, the latest data from the Union Health Ministry shows. The country also witnessed 519 deaths during the period, taking the total number of death count to 22,123.