SHILLONG, May 6: Two people succumbed to COVID-19 infection and 347 new cases were reported on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the state government enforced lockdown in Shillong and the rest of East Khasi Hills district.
Director of Health Services ((MI), Aman Warr said the total number of active cases has gone up to 2,351 while 193 people have died so far. On the brighter side, 129 people were discharged, taking the total number of people who recovered from COVID-19 infection to 16,086.
East Khasi Hills was the worst affected with 177 new positive cases followed by 56 in Ri Bhoi, 23 in West Khasi Hills, 22 in West Garo Hills, 20 in South Garo Hills, 14 in East Jaintia Hills, 11 in West Jaintia Hills, 10 in East Garo Hills, seven in South West Garo Hills, four in North Garo Hills and two in South West Khasi Hills.
East Khasi Hills tops the list with 1,464 active cases.
Out of the 129 new recoveries, 89 are in East Khasi Hills, 14 in Ri Bhoi, 10 in West Garo Hills, nine in West Jaintia Hills, five in East Jaintia Hills and two in South West Khasi Hills.
The deceased included Munni Ruddil Ahmed (83) of Umsohphoh, Ri Bhoi and Aroti Das (50) of Cheklabasti, Ichamati.
Positive response to lockdown
The five-day lockdown in East Khasi Hills began on Thursday night and the restrictions evoked a positive response from the citizens in Shillong.
Since morning, all the shops in Shillong were closed, barring pharmacies that have been exempted from the purview of the lockdown.
The commercial vehicles were off the roads and very few people were seen moving about.
In places such as Polo, police personnel were seen using batons on lockdown violators who moved out of their houses. The police were not as strict in many other localities in the state.
Many government offices were shut and very few officials and employees were seen in the secretariat.
All the eateries in the city were also closed and online food delivery prohibited.
The state government announced the lockdown following a spike in COVID-19 cases in the city.
In the absence of public transportation, many of government employees and frontline workers were seen walking back to their homes in the evening after office hours.
The government is likely to review the situation on Saturday and decide on the future course of action.
