SHILLONG: In view of the relentless spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, the government has ordered for random testing in 71 clusters spread across the state.
The decision was taken at a review meeting on Thursday.
Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said that the random testing through antigen test kits would begin soon.
The government has sought the assistance of around 7,000 COVID-19 Management Committees at the village level in conducting the random tests.
There were will be around 30 to 40 villages in one cluster, Tynsong said, adding that details on the 71 identified clusters will be known once the government comes out with an official notification on the proposed random testing.
Asked if fears of community transmission in the state pushed the government to conduct random testing in the 71 clusters, Tynsong said that the Health department has come up with this proposal to prevent community spread of COVID-19 in the state.
“We are going to start random testing very soon and we will continue with aggressive testing,” he asserted.
Making it clear that the entire exercise might take 3-4 months to complete, Tynsong said that the government would not set a deadline for the same.
The state has a stockpile of around 40,000 antigen test kits and around 1.6 lakh more kits will reach the state soon.
So far, random testing has been conducted at Umpling, Nongmensong and Mawpat which are in close proximity to the BSF Frontier headquarters.
On the sidelines, the state government expressed gratitude and thankfulness to the DHS, doctors, nurses and health workers who have been working without thinking about their safety.
Earlier, the Deputy Chief Minister also urged people to adhere to the norm of allowing a maximum of 50 people for funeral services.
Random testing
Health and Family Welfare Minister, AL Hek has sought the cooperation of COVID management team of Lumpyngngad in the random testing in the locality which is expected to begin in a couple of days.
Speaking to newsmen after visiting the locality on Thursday, Hek said that the Health Department has received a letter from Dorbar Shnong to conduct the meeting in the locality after four people tested positive for COVID-19 there.
“In the meeting, we decided to go for random testing which would be done in a couple of days,” he said.
The location for conducting the random test is being worked out in the locality right now.