SHILLONG: With six employees of the Secretariat testing COVID-19 positive in three days, the state government has been caught on the wrong foot. It is causing concern leading to sealing of all concerned rooms and initiation of actions for curtailing public footfall in the three-storied iconic Secretariat building.
Apart from going for proper sanitisation of the Main Secretariat and Additional Secretariat buildings, citizens have been advised to avoid visiting the office premises for a week from September 7, Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong on Friday said, “Except for important work, unnecessary visits to the offices may kindly be stopped for the entire duration of next week,” Tynsong advised citizens.
Three officials and staff had tested positive on Wednesday and Thursday while three more tested positive in the Secretariat on Friday.
Those who have tested positive so far are from the Finance, Law and Public Relations departments.
The deputy chief minister informed that the rooms where staff and officials tested positive had been sealed and contract tracing was underway.
Tynsong admitted that the number of contacts of the positive cases would be quite high.
Following the detection of the cases in the Secretariat, the government has shifted the venue of the 59th Teacher’s Day function from Yojana Bhawan in the main secretariat to the Convention Centre, Pinewood Hotel.
Controversy over
death in WKH
Controversy erupted over the death of a COVID-19 patient from Ksehkohlong village in West Khasi Hills after family members of the deceased and residents of the village claimed that the person had actually died of chronic asthma and not COVID, our Nongstoin correspondent adds.
The row arose after Khangsing Nongsiej (67), resident of Ksehkohlong village, was rushed to Holy Cross Hospital and was referred to Tirot Sing Memorial Hospital, Mairang where he was tested positive and later died on Friday.
West Khasi Hills DC, T Lyngwa and DM&HO Dr M. Bareh confirmed that the person was tested at Tirot Sing Memorial Hospital, Mairang and he was confirmed positive before his death.
However, family members and locals were firm in their assertion that Nongsiej could not have been COVID positive since he was a cowherd and had never gone outside the village. They also claimed that he had been suffering from some chronic illness for long and that might have been the possible cause of death.
Dr Bareh, meanwhile, informed that the body of the COVID-19 victim had been handed over to the West Khasi Hills district administration for burial, in the presence of the doctors, health workers and the village head. The two houses frequented by the victim have been sealed while the entire village has been declared a containment area. The Health department is gearing up to conduct random testing of the villagers.
With this, Meghalaya now has recorded 15 COVID-related deaths.
Relief for shops on highways
The state government on Friday decided to lift the restrictions on shops located along the national highways and permitted them to reopen with immediate effect, providing much needed succour to hundreds of shop owners.
Tynsong informed that the decision was taken at a review meeting on Friday.
The Health department will come up with a detailed SOP for shops located along the highways.