SHILLONG: The state government is expecting a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases even though it has decided not to continue the lockdown, which ends on Wednesday morning.
“The surge can happen anytime now,” Health Minister AL Hek said on Tuesday.
Hek, however, did not hazard any guess on the possible quantum of rise saying such estimation was difficult.
“We are assuming that more cases would come up even after doing so much since the beginning to contain the spread of the disease”, Hek said adding the government is scaling up the preparedness level keeping such a scenario in mind.
“We need at least 200 beds now in the corona care centres immediately and hence new ones are being identified,” the minister said.
Earlier, the State Surveillance Team had also spoken of the likely rise in number of cases in the state. It had told the government there were certain areas in the city which are expected to see a spike in the number of cases.
The projection, sources said, was based on the high number of returnees from outside in those particular areas.
COVID meet tomorrow
The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Secretariat has informed that a meeting will be held on Thursday to discuss matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
The meeting, to be held at the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Hostel, is likely to be attended by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his Cabinet members. Leader of Opposition, Mukul Sangma and other Congress leaders have also been invited to the meeting.