SHILLONG, May 5: As the cases of COVID-19 continue to surge in Meghalaya, the state government has adopted a three-pronged approach of containment, vaccination and improvement of healthcare to tackle the menace.
Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma told media persons on Wednesday that the active cases may have slightly gone down due to containment measures but the cases need to be brought down sharply. He said complete lockdown might help arrest infection by 10-30 per cent.
He said the vaccination programme is going on well and the state government has enough vaccines for people above 45 years.
Stating that the state will receive 42,000 doses from the Serum Institute of India, he said depending on availability, the government will schedule the appointments of beneficiaries and ensure that vaccine reaches areas where it is most needed.
Advising people to be disciplined, he said if the number of active cases breaches the 5,000-mark, it will be difficult for the government to handle the cases. He also advised people to restrict their movement stating that over 12,000 applications for passes have been received during the containment period.
Highlighting the government’s plans to improve the health sector, the CM announced that the government will construct a prefab structure at the Tura ISBT which will function as a COVID hospital.
In September last year, he had announced the construction of a COVID hospital in Tura. Asked about it, he said the project was planned at ISBT Tura but as cases were going down, the government thought of constructing the hospital closer to Tura town.
He said the government had thought that the Rs 7-crore project needs to have some legacy which could be turned into another infrastructure in due course.
“But since the cases have soared again, the government has decided to construct a prefab structure at Tura ISBT. This will come up in around 60 days at half the estimated cost of Rs 7 crore,” Sangma said.
As far as Shillong is concerned, the TB Hospital at Umsawli is being turned into a COVID-19 care centre and even the IIM Shillong is being prepared with around 200 beds, he added.
The CM said the cases are of a new strain as it is spreading very fast. The inflammation of lungs is also being noticed in several cases, he said.
Making it clear that the government has not announced any relief package for the vulnerable sections, he said he would visit Tura to review the situation while the Deputy CM and the Home Minister would take stock of the situation in Nongstoin and Jaintia Hills respectively.
