SHILLONG/ TURA/ NONGPOH: The state government is awaiting the test result of one person who arrived in Ampati on Wednesday as the returnee’s rapid and swab tests showed mixed results.
In Ri Bhoi too, the result of one person who entered the state through Byrnihat was negative while that of another person is awaited.
The District Medical Health Officer of Tura said that the person who was returning from Tezpur in Assam was suffering from giddiness. “The 27-year-old man was feeling some discomfort so we conducted a rapid test for antibodies on him which turned out to be negative,” informed West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh.
Over 700 stranded citizens of the state had returned from different parts of the North East and were screened at Tura’s ISBT by teams of doctors.
He was placed under quarantine and the more accurate Truenat Beta CoV test, which uses a swab from the throat to diagnose diseases, was taken from him and dispatched to the COVID-19 testing centre at the Tura Civil Hospital.
Later, he was sent to his native place in Ampati. After he was tested again through the rapid test kit, he turned out to be positive and the government has collected his samples for testing on the real time Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction or RT-PCR at NEIGRIHMS.
“The good news is that results from the Truenat Beta test released on Thursday has turned out to be negative and we are expecting the RT-PCR report by Friday,” informed South West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Krishna Chitturi from Ampati.
In Ri Bhoi, the District Medical and Health Official Dr M Mawrie informed that while the report of a returnee has come out negative, the test of another person will be available on Friday.
Mawrie also said that the Health department and the Ri Bhoi district administration are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that there is thorough screening of all persons entering the state to prevent any possible outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 in the district and the state.
On the third day on Thursday, as many as 687 persons registered at the designated screening centre located at 12th Mile, Byrnihat.
Inter-state movement
Around 50-60 persons from different parts of Garo Hills who were stranded in Shillong were taken back to their respective places on Thursday.
A government official said they were taken to different places like Resubelpara, Ampati and Williamnagar in four buses. Over 200 persons from Assam were waiting to be transported from Shillong, sources said.
