SHILLONG, Feb 3: In what may be termed as positive news for the state, a sero-prevalence study has suggested that a considerably small percentage of the population was infected with COVID-19 when the deadly second wave of the pandemic hit the state in April last year.
“We had collected around 6,000 samples to study how COVID-19 had really spread across the state. We found that only 44% people developed anti-bodies,” Principal Secretary of Health department, Sampath Kumar said, revealing the finding.
“This means that citizens are largely following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and protocols. This is a positive sign. But we need to protect our citizens by ensuring that they go for vaccination,” Kumar said.
He disclosed that the samples were collected after the second wave of the pandemic. In some states, the infection rate was around 80-90% even in the first wave, he added.
“We had only 44% even after the second wave. This is the strength of the state since we have the community which is keen to work together with the government,” he said.
He also stated that the state government is looking to improve various health indicators in the next ten years so as to be at par or even better than any developed country.
“This can happen only if we work on all fronts and how we build the infrastructure,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, in another positive trend, the number of fresh cases seems to be decreasing in the state on a daily basis. On Thursday, 189 fresh cases were recorded while three more patients succumbed to the viral infection, taking the death toll to 1,536.
All the three deaths were reported in East Khasi Hills. The active tally stands at 2,005 while 88,269 people have recovered from the viral infection including 256 on the day.
With the COVID-19 situation showing signs of improvement, the state government has permitted funerals to be conducted without prior permission of the deputy commissioner or sub-divisional officer (civil). People attending funerals should strictly adhere to COVID-19 protocols including the capacity of the venue, the government said in an order.