SHILLONG, May 26: The total lockdown in East Khasi Hills is set to end at 5am of May 31 but the question on everyone’s mind is if it will be further extended.
On May 1, the state government had declared Shillong Agglomeration, Jowai and Tura as containment zones. Subsequently, a rapid surge in the COVID-19 cases had forced the government to announce a partial lockdown in East Khasi Hills from May 5 and weekend lockdown in other districts.
When the situation did not improve despite the measures with East Khasi Hills turning into a COVID hotspot, the government had clamped a total lockdown in the district from 8pm of May 19 till 5am of May 31.
The state continues to report around 800 cases on an average each day. On two occasions, the figures had crossed the 1,100-mark.
East Khasi Hills has reported 3,535 fresh cases and 98 fatalities since the enforcement of the total lockdown on May 19. The silver lining is that the number of recoveries in the district has exceeded the fresh cases for the second straight day on Wednesday.
Speaking in a personal capacity, a senior official of the Health department said he favours the extension of the lockdown. Stating that the government has not yet held any discussion on the issue, he said since bed occupancy is nearing saturation point, it will be difficult to manage the cases in the event of a spike after the lockdown is lifted.
However, the daily bread earners are not in favour of another spell of lockdown. In several parts of the city, vegetable sellers, fruit sellers and mobile tea vendors were seen struggling to sell their produce for want of customers. They were unequivocal in their opposition to yet another extension of the lockdown.
Meanwhile, the lockdown is being effectively implemented across Shillong. On Wednesday, traffic personnel were seen keeping a close watch on all vehicles to make sure people were not coming out of their homes unnecessarily.
“I went for vaccination and I was happy to see that the traffic police personnel stopped our vehicle at three locations. After we had shown the papers of vaccination, they let us go,” a woman said.
The vaccination of people aged 18-44 years is going on smoothly. At Nazareth Hospital, a number of people in this age group were seen standing in a queue to get vaccinated.
The heads of localities are strictly enforcing the protocols of wearing mask and maintaining social distancing. Some locals have put up blockades and banners to let people know that their localities have been declared a “containment area”.
