SHILLONG, May 18: The already grim COVID-19 situation in Meghalaya is worsening further with the state registering its highest single-day spike of 906 fresh cases taking the active tally past the 5,000-mark on Tuesday.
The state also recorded a new high of 470 recoveries, while 19 deaths in the past 24 hours took the number of fatalities to 355.
DHS (MI), Dr Aman War informed that 17 deaths were reported from East Khasi Hills while one death each was reported from North Garo Hills and Ri Bhoi.
The death tally includes 301 in East Khasi Hills, 21 in West Garo Hills, 10 in West Jaintia Hills, eight in Ri Bhoi, four in East Jaintia Hills, three in North Garo Hills, two each in West Khasi Hills, South Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills and one each in East Garo Hills and South West Khasi Hills.
Out of the 906 fresh cases on Tuesday, 574 were reported in East Khasi Hills, 64 in East Jaintia Hills, 56 in West Garo Hills, 54 in West Jaintia Hills, 41 in South West Garo Hills, 31 in West Khasi Hills, 28 in Ri Bhoi, 20 in South Garo Hills, 19 in North Garo Hills, 10 in South West Khasi Hills and nine in East Garo Hills.
The 470 recoveries included 281 from East Khasi Hills, 35 from Ri Bhoi, 34 from East Jaintia Hills, 27 from South Garo Hills, 26 from South West Garo Hills, 19 from West Garo Hills, 17 from West Jaintia Hills, 14 from West Khasi Hills, nine from East Garo Hills and eight from North Garo Hills. The total number of people discharged so far is 19,185.
EKH is state’s COVID epicentre
East Khasi Hills, one of Meghalaya’s most populated districts, has become the epicentre of COVID-19 in the state with positive cases continuing to surge in Shillong and beyond despite the containment measures and partial lockdown.
Director of Health Services (MI), Dr Aman War attributed the spread of the virus to the movement of people during the partial lockdown and the jump in testing.
“We got many cases because we ramped up the tests,” he said, lamenting the tendency of some people not to maintain physical distance.
Asked if the district administration was lenient on people not heeding lockdown rules since its enforcement on May 5, Dr War said the authorities have been stringent but many people were allowed to move for vaccination. The administration also had to think about the agricultural activities, he added. “But many people failed to take care of themselves and avoid mixing up, which has led to the rise in COVID cases,” he said.
East Khasi Hills now has a total of 3,076 active cases with 400-600 cases being registered daily over the past few days.
In the last two days, the district saw 724 confirmed cases while 409 people have recovered and 37 died during this period.