SHILLONG, May 16: The Meghalaya government on Sunday said the COVID-19 active cases in the state are likely to reach 10,000 by the end of May.
“Going by the present trend, the number of active cases would not be less than 8,000 to 10,000 by the end of this month,” Health and Family Welfare Principal Secretary, Sampath Kumar said.
He said the virus spreads fast and it is a multiplier disease. If at present there are 4,000 active cases, the cases will soon reach 8,000 and then in no time, they will touch 16,000, he said.
“The only way we can break the transmission and prevent the spread of the virus is through self-containment,” Kumar said.
He said people need to take more measures in terms of containing themselves and go for early treatment. The cases are rising despite the lockdown. Asked about it, Kumar said one of the reasons is that a lot of people are now being tested.
“We have ramped up testing since there is a possibility that for every single case, there could be 25 cases in the community. So, there is a need to detect the positive cases. We have put in a system for Rapid Antigen Testing. Large numbers of testing are required for early detection,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, Kumar said the government has allowed the operation of only essential services.
Pandemic predictions futile: Hek
Health Minister, AL Hek on Sunday said the state government cannot count on mere assumptions and predictions while fighting the pandemic.
“We cannot believe in assumptions. It is very difficult to predict the trajectory,” Hek said.
The statement comes at a time when different agencies and officials are making their own predictions about the trajectory of cases.
Earlier, some officials had predicted that the cases in Meghalaya would start falling, which, however, has not happened yet. Some foreign agencies had predicted the cases would continue to peak in the state for the next two weeks.
