Meghalaya Reports another Covid-19 Case; Total 14

Guwahati:

A person from West Garo Hills in Meghalaya who had recently returned from Chennai in the South has now tested positive for the Covid-19, taking the state's tally of cases to 14.

Taking to Twitter to inform about this development, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma wrote, "One of the persons from Garo Hills, who came back from chennai in the second batch has tested positive for Covid -19.. the person is asymtomatic and has been in institutional quarantine in Tura. We are monitoring the situation."

In another tweet, the Chief Minister took to Twitter to urge people not to panic, adding that there is a "need to handle this with utmost care and responsibility." Sangma further added, "We need to take care of elderly people and people with comorbid conditions. Asymptotic and young people are recovering from this by observing isolation."

This development gains extra significance as yesterday Meghalaya declared itself coronavirus free after all the 13 cases reported initially were declared 'cured'. The official announcement was made by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong at a press briefing in Shillong on Monday evening. "We would like to inform and declare that our State is free from the covid virus after a series of tests carried out on the last patient", stated the Deputy Chief Minister.

He was alluding to the 13 positive cases registered since the second week of April, where only one fell prey to the disease. Meanwhile, there is a big question mark in Meghalaya and elsewhere regarding the return of stranded citizens.

Altogether, 6,565 of them have reached the State till this evening and more are expected to reach in the coming days. "While we welcome them, directions are being given, especially to go for a mandatory 14 days quarantine", stated Tynsong besides adding that there are 7,000-odd COVID committees that are in place to ensure an all out adherence. These committees are at the grassroot level and are being monitored and supervised by the district administrations.