SHILLONG: The Health and Family Welfare department has so far traced around 1000 contacts of positive patients from containment zones.
The state government enforced a three-day lockdown from Monday to carry out the exercise after a sudden spike in COVID positive cases in the state capital last week which also led to several areas being declared as containment zones.
“We have done around 1000 contact-tracing in the containment areas,” DHS (MI) Dr Aman War said on Tuesday.
He said that in Mawbah alone, where a woman died due to COVID, there were many contacts as the patient had visited a pharmacy, doctor and even a nurse for injection.
Besides, a woman employee of a pet shop, who has tested positive, also had several contacts as many had visited the shop.
He said that it would take a around a week for the picture to be clear while adding that samples of all contacts have been sent for testing and so far none has tested positive.
Meanwhile, 41 new cases were recorded in the state on Tuesday, 36 of them in East Khasi Hills alone, taking the active tally in the state to 580.
Of the 36 in East Khasi Hills, six are Armed Forces personnel who returned from Bihar while two others are CRPF returnees. Out of 28 others who also tested positive in the district, 14 are civilian returnees from Dubai, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal, while five cases were reported from Laitkor – all high risk contacts of the positive cases from Greenwood Resort Wedding.
Four people including one staff nurse, one patient and two high risk contacts of a positive patient also tested positive at NEIGRIHMS.
Additionally, one high risk contact of a positive case at Jaiaw and another from Saipung in Jaintia Hills also tested positive. Three more – a high risk contact of a patient at Shillong Civil Hospital, a high risk contact of a tourist taxi driver at Nongrim Hills and a tourist taxi driver – also tested positive in the district.
Three cases were reported in West Jaintia Hills while West Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills districts recorded one new case each.
DHS (MI) Dr Aman War informed that in West Garo Hills a returnee from Assam tested positive, while in West Khasi Hills, a nurse, who is also a returnee from Assam, tested positive.
The three new cases in West Jaintia Hills include one returnee from Jammu & Kashmir and two high risk contacts of a positive patient from Amlarem.
With eight more on Tuesday, altogether 194 positive patients have recovered in the state so far.
Five cases in Shillong Civil Hospital
Five people including a 7-year-old child were tested positive for COVID-19 at Shillong Civil Hospital on Tuesday.
Dr War said that the five cases included one staff nurse, one lab technician, one CRPF personnel, one seven-year-old child from Mawphlang and his father.
“They have been quarantined and their contacts have been tested through antigen tests and they were negative till the filing of this report,” Dr War said.
Tura Civil hospital under lockdown
Authorities in Tura have announced the closure of the biggest government hospital — Tura Civil Hospital for two days, beginning Wednesday, after two patients referred from here to NEIGHRIMS in Shillong were found positive for Covid-19.
West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh announced that both Out Patient Department (OPD) and Emergency Services of the hospital would remain closed for two days for contact tracing and sanitisation after a patient brought from Dalu with a heart ailment was referred to NEIGHRIMS in Shillong for further tests.
During Covid-19 testing at NEIGRIHMS both the patient and his attendant were found positive.
The Dalu community Health Centre where the patient was first taken for treatment has also been sealed for contact tracing and sanitisation.
“We will do both Antigen and RT-PCR tests during contact tracing. We have already identified the contacts and hopefully both hospitals won’t have to stay closed for long,” said Ram Singh.
He further informed that all patients coming for treatment to Tura civil hospital will be referred to Christian Hospital and Holy Cross Hospital for necessary medical check-up and treatment.
Unsuspecting carriers?
Despite the best efforts of the government to put everyone coming into the region through a rigorous screening and testing procedure, there is concern some may have slipped through the surveillance dragnet bringing in the deadly virus unknowingly.
Take the case of the heart patient from Dalu who went from the border town to Tura and ultimately landed in NEIGRIHMS where he was found positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The patient has had no travel history for the past two months since his arrival from another state, which was long time ago.
Sources from Dalu inform that the patient arrived in Garo Hills as way back as May and even went through the screening and testing process.
He was also made to undergo two weeks of quarantine, it was reported.
Despite all safety measures he became a victim of the disease which shows that he had contracted it from another person or carrier, a worrying situation for many.