‘Follow SOPs, stay indoors to defeat COVID in a week’

SHILLONG, May 24: Meghalaya could effectively contain the second wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in a week’s time if citizens respect the lockdown, stay indoors and rigorously follow all health protocols at home, Principal Secretary, Health, Sampath Kumar asserted on Monday.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, Kumar said that if each and every citizen in the state follows all precautions even at home for a week, it would stop the transmission of the virus from one person to another since the incubation period of the virus is around 5-7 days.
The statement of the senior health official comes at a time when the state is reeling under an abnormal rise in COVID-19 cases which is now close to touching the 8,000-mark.
Lauding the citizens of Shillong for following protocols to a large extent, Kumar advised them to follow protocols even inside their homes including wearing masks.
Stating that almost 80% of the COVID cases in the state are asymptomatic and only 5% have turned critical, Kumar cautioned that all people should consider themselves asymptomatic since the state is in the midst of a pandemic.
According to Kumar, cases in the state would have been much higher had people stopped wearing masks and disregarded other protocols.
He also observed that right from the first wave of the pandemic, the state government has maintained strict vigil as far as protocols are concerned by screening returnees to the state and testing high-risk contacts of positive patients.