Doctor becomes first Covid-19 case in Meghalaya

Shillong/Guwahati, April 14 (IANS) A senior doctor in Shillong tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday night, the first Covid-19 case in Meghalaya.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma in separate tweets said that in view of the confirmed Covid-19 case in Meghalaya, the government has imposed 48-hour curfew in Shillong and Nongpoh, a commercial city.

The Meghalaya cabinet will meet on Tuesday to review the situation.

“I urge citizens not to panic. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are prepared to deal with it,” Sangma said.

The Meghalaya man became the first doctor in northeast India to get infected by Covid-19.

State Health Minister A.L. Hek said that the swab samples of the doctor, who owns a private hospital here, tested positive for Covid-19 at the Central government-run North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science in Shillong. He has no recent travel history.

“The Health Department Commissioner and the Secretary were asked to ensure that no patient from the private hospital, where the doctor was functioning, is allowed to come out. The hospital and its surroundings have been sealed temporarily,” the Health Minister told the reporters.

He also said that the hospital has turned into a quarantine centre and the hospital staff, family members of the doctor and the attendants who visited the hospital would be tested immediately.

The Meghalaya Health Department, in an appeal to the people, said that all those who have visited the hospital the Bethany Hospital on or after March 22 should immediately register themselves by calling 108.

With the latest positive case in Meghalaya, 38 cases have been found in the northeast so far — Assam (31), Manipur (2), Tripura (2), Mizoram (1), Arunachal Pradesh (1) and Meghalaya (1).

Of the 38 people, 30 had attended the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area last month.

–IANS

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