SHILLONG, June 15: Meghalaya registered 450 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while 542 new recoveries brought the active case tally further down to 4,430.
Seven people succumbed to the infection in the past 24 hours pushing the death toll to 750. All seven deaths were reported in East Khasi Hills. The case fatality rate in the state now stands at 1.75%.
151 new cases were reported in East Khasi Hills, 74 in West Garo Hills, 69 in West Jaintia Hills, 41 in South West Garo Hills, 26 in North Garo Hills, 22 in Ri-Bhoi, 21 in East Garo Hills, 17 in South Garo Hills, 14 in West Khasi Hills, 12 in South West Khasi Hills and three in East Jaintia Hills.
The new recoveries include 219 in East Khasi Hills, 123 in West Garo Hills, 66 in West Jaintia Hills, 35 in Ri-Bhoi, 26 in South West Khasi Hills, 20 in South West Garo Hills, 17 in East Jaintia Hills, 12 in North Garo Hills, 10 in East Garo Hills and seven each in South Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old senior radiologist, Dr Sanjay Kumar Barman, died due to COVID-19 pneumonia at NEIGRIHMS on Tuesday.
On vaccination front, the state has administered a total of 5,30,267 doses of vaccine so far which include 4,55,492 first dose and 74,775 second dose.
Case fatality rate higher in EKH
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo, on Tuesday informed that the case fatality rate of the district stands at 2.3%, which is higher than many other states and districts in the country.
As per the official data, the total number of cases in EKH stands at 24,158, while 570 people have died of the infection in the district.
Concerned about the delta variant found in the state which is believed to be much more infectious and lethal, the DC said, “The point here is if we open up more and there is laxity and increase in number of cases, going by this fatality rate even if one lakh people from our district get infected, it would mean that we would have to deal with 2,300 may be 3000 deaths”.
“In most of the cases, those who are infected or admitted in the hospitals and die are not vaccinated. In fact, the figures were very clear that out of the total deaths, none of them had received both doses of the vaccine which tells us that vaccination offers protection,” she added.
“We have observed no adverse effects in our state after vaccination and it is the only solution if we dream about going back to normalcy anytime soon,” she observed.
The DC also pointed out that from Friday onwards, the authorities have started spot registrations in designated COVID vaccination centers and community session sites.
“Almost 3,000 to 4,000 doses per day are being given through spot registration or walk in registration at different health facilities around the city through coordination with the Rangbah Shnong and welfare committees,” she informed.
