SHILLONG, April 26: Several people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state have vanished, making the authorities go on a wild goose chase.
Many of the 166 new cases reported in East Khasi Hills on April 24 were returnees from outside the state. At least 25 of them had given incorrect phone numbers to the authorities and are now untraceable, officials said.
A few of these numbers were found to be either switched off or unreachable while some were wrong numbers.
Officials said the inability to trace them could lead to a major crisis. They also said most of the untraceable cases have been reported from the Umling entry point.
“A separate team should be assigned the job of verifying the phone numbers of individuals tested at the entry point so that people do not get away with providing false information,” a senior official said.
To make matters worse for the authorities, some COVID-19 positive patients have reportedly violated the 10-day mandatory home isolation protocol to go out for repeat testing, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo said on Monday.
“In doing so, they are putting everyone they meet including their family, health workers and other general public at risk by breaking the home isolation protocol as mandated by the Health Department,” she said in a notification while threatening strict action against any positive person who violates the protocol.
She said incident commanders along with the area medical officer and COVID management teams will take steps to ensure proper home isolation of all positive persons so that the virus is contained.
Partial lockdown comes into effect
Shops and businesses dealing in non-essential items remained closed on Monday, as the week-long partial lockdown began in the city.
Shops dealing in essential commodities such as ration, pharmacies and confectioneries functioned normally.
Police personnel were deployed in several places to ensure strict adherence to the COVID protocols.
Restaurants and eateries remained open even though the flow of customer came down to a trickle.
In Iewduh and Khyndai Lad, the two largest commercial hubs of the state, all shops dealing in non-essential items were closed.
There was a reduced movement of private vehicles but local taxis operated normally.
The East Khasi Hills administration extended the night curfew in the district with effect from April 26 till May 2 between 10 pm and 5 am. However, fuel pumps and food delivery services have been permitted to operate till 11 pm, subject to the condition that the staff follow all health protocols.
The movement of vehicles carrying essential goods, security forces, medical equipment and vehicle repair shops on highways have been also exempted from the purview of the night curfew.
