SHILLONG: The Health and Family Welfare department on Wednesday termed the next few days, until April 28, as critical and need to be dealt with a lot of care and proactive approach to fight the disease.
On the other hand, Health and Family Welfare Minister, AL Hek, said that all COVID-19 positive cases in the state can be traced to the index patient while adding that the surveillance committee is trying to ascertain how the virus entered Meghalaya.
The number of positive cases in the state has risen to 12 — 11 active after one death since the first was detected on April 13.
Speaking to media persons here, Hek said that the surveillance team was on the job and hopefully they would soon detect the history of the virus in the state.
Asked about the contact tracing of the first positive patient, Hek said that many people, who are both primary and secondary contacts of the first patient, have come forward to inform the government.
“It is an ongoing process,” he said.
When asked about the secrecy the government seemed to be maintaining over the disease, the minister said that there was nothing to hide from people and nothing about the virus should be hidden.
“Even Prince Charles and UK Prime Minister have come forward and admitted they are COVID-19 patients and there is nothing wrong in it,” he said adding that the government wants to make sure that people who are infected with the virus are not stigmatised by anyone
Hek said people can deal with the disease provided they are self-disciplined and maintain social distancing among other protocol.
“I am sure if people can be disciplined, they can cure themselves,” he said while stating that many people infected with virus have been cured in the country.
Advisory
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Health and Family Welfare department said that persons, who have registered and are under home quarantine, should call 108 or report to respective headmen if they show symptoms like cough, fever and shortness of breath and loss of smell (in elderly people). Those with co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, asthma and cancer should also report, the statement said.
The department also requested headmen to report such information to their respective deputy commissioners.
The department also reiterated the do’s and don’ts for protection against the disease.
These include washing hands frequently, wearing face masks, following cough etiquette, avoiding spitting in public places, maintaining a minimum distance of one metre from each other and avoiding direct contact and crowded areas as much as possible.
