COVID-19 tally at 547, health authorities says no spread in the state

SHILLONG, JULY 27: The total COVID-19 active cases have increased to 547 on Monday after 36 more persons have been contracted the infection, even as the health authorities reiterated that there has been no community transmission in the state.

A statement issued by the health department said the 36 positive cases were detected till 3 pm today that include 32 in East Khasi Hills (19 civilians, 12 BSF troopers and 1 armed forces), 2 in East Jaintia Hills, 1 in West Garo Hills and 1 in Ri Bhoi.

With fresh cases, the total number of active COVID-19 positive cases stands at 547. The statement said that the majority of the positive cases belong to the BSF cluster followed by the returnees.

Of 547, a total of 285 positive cases are from the BSF and armed forces while 262 are civilians.

On the fear related to community transmission in the state, the health department said “As per the assessment of the Health Authorities, there is no Community Transmission suspected.”

It said as per definition, community transmission means that the COVID-19 virus has become so widespread in a community that  it  gets  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  determine  who  is  passing  on  the  infection  to  whom.“However, in case of Meghalaya, the clusters of most cases have been identified through extensive contact tracing exercise and the remaining ones will soon be identified as the contact tracing exercise is underway,” it said.

With respect to the few SARI cases from Shillong (detected in H G Roberts Hospital) and cases from Khliehriat, East Jaintia Hills and Amlarem, West Jaintia Hills District who were initially tested positive for COVID-19 in RT-PCR, it is informed that they were later tested negative in the Rapid Antigen test as well as the RT-PCR test.

“Moreover, all their primary contacts have been traced and tested and most of their results have been tested as negative. Some results are still awaited. Hence, the possibility of community transmission, by definition as mentioned above, in the area of Khliehriat and Amlarem can be ruled out,” the statement stated.

East Khasi Hills being the worst hit district has a total of 443 cases (243 BSF, 174 civilians and 26 armed forces) while South West Khasi Hills is with zero cases.

There are 52 active cases in Ri Bhoi (43 non-BSF and 9 armed forces), 16 in West Garo Hills (7 BSF and 9 non-BSF), 15 in East Jaintia Hills, 10 in West Jaintia Hills, 4 in South West Garo Hills, 3 in West Khasi Hills, 2 in South Garo Hills, 1 in East Garo Hills and 1 in North Garo Hills.

A total of 186 patients have recovered from the infection in the state.

Meanwhile, the state has registered a total of 738 positive cases while five have succumbed to the disease.

By Our Reporter