SHILLONG, July 1: Meghalaya has continued to record a large number of Covid-19 cases each day.
Officials from the Health department said the cases are not going down as the department has ramped up testing, covering the state’s nook and corner.
Ever since the outbreak of the disease, the government has conducted over seven lakh tests. The number of active cases has been hovering around 4,000 for quite some time now.
The officials said the department has put the onus on the MLAs to create awareness among people on the need to go for tests and vaccination in their constituencies.
The department is also taking the help of BDOs, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and Community COVID Management Team (CCMT) to ensure that people come forward to get tested and vaccinated.
Nearly three lakh of urban Shillong’s nine lakh population have been vaccinated. The officials said the vaccination coverage in rural areas of East Khasi Hills is very low. So far, only 33,000-34,000 people have taken the jabs.
The state on Thursday recorded 577 new cases – 260 of them reported from East Khasi Hills, 157 from Ri Bhoi, 34 from West Garo Hills, 27 from West Khasi Hills, 24 from East Jaintia Hills, 21 from West Jaintia Hills, 16 from North Garo Hills, 14 from South West Khasi Hills, 12 from East Garo Hills and six each from South Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills.
With this the confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in Meghalaya has breached the 50,000-mark and now stands at 50,090.
Six fatalities took the death toll to 844. The deceased includes an 18-day-old infant from Mawkyrwat, South West Khasi Hills, who was declared brought dead to Nazareth Hospital, Shillong on June 30.
Altogether 250 people recovered on the day. They include 71 in Ri Bhoi, 70 in East Khasi Hills, 45 in West Jaintia Hills, 16 in West Garo Hills, 12 in East Garo Hills, 11 in North Garo Hills, eight in South West Khasi Hills, seven in West Khasi Hills, six in South West Khasi Hills, three in South Garo Hills and one in East Jaintia Hills.
The state now has 4,537 active cases, including 1,442 in East Khasi Hills.
