Five UK returnees in isolation: Govt

SHILLONG, Dec 23: With the entire nation on alert after the detection of a mutated version of coronavirus in the UK, the state government has allayed fears stating that five persons had returned to Shillong from England and have been home quarantined after being tested for the virus.
Government sources informed The Shillong Times that the five persons, who arrived here since November 21, have been identified and their test results are awaited. It was also told that the entrants do not have any symptoms. However, the surveillance teams are keeping a tab on them.
The UK returnees, according to the sources, had entered the state before the Centre’s announcement of fresh restrictions.
Earlier this week, union government had suspended all inbound flights from the UK until December 31 amid fresh concerns about the new variant of COVID-19 that is “spreading and growing rapidly” there. Several other countries, too, have imposed travel restrictions on inbound flights from there.
Meanwhile, Health Minister AL Hek has asked people to be more cautious. “We have to be more careful and not complacent,” Hek said.
Speaking about vaccines, he said that storage facilities would be provided by the Centre when the vaccine is available.
Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong said that though the number of cases in Meghalaya and the country has seen a downward trend in recent days, the state government is on the job to ensure people’s safety.