Meghalaya:
The Meghalaya cabinet headed by Conrad Sangma further extended the lockdown in the East Khasi Hill district till the 21st of June.
Despite a one-month curfew in East Khasi Hills District, the positive rate is still more than 10%. The overall positive rate of tests in the past 14 days was close to 12.84 percent.
Even though many districts in Meghalaya have seen a decline in the number of COVID-19 restrictions, the order to extend lockdown in the East Khasi Hill district will stay.
Few exceptions will be permitted as determined by the respective DCs. In some locations of the state, up to 20% of non-essential shops may operate. DCs may also allow up to 20% of commercial vehicles to operate, tweeted the Meghalaya CM.
Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Sampath Kumar stated that if the positivity rate falls below ten percent, containment measures will be loosened. For the state to contemplate reducing the containment measures, the rate should ideally be less than five percent.
"Now we have seen how the state has got Delta Variant which is very infectious. The positivity rate is still higher and during the last 10-14 days is Shillong has a 17% positivity rate," he said.
The Delta strain is highly contagious, and 80-90 percent of samples in the state are infected with it, according to Kumar.
"We are testing more so that through these tests what happens is that even if there are any cases we can isolate them. If we are not testing the asymptomatic cases will keep infecting others and all of a sudden you will find a large number of people infected," stated Kumar.
Meghalaya registered 514 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total caseload of coronavirus infections to 41,100, as per a senior health department official.
The state recorded 10 more COVID-induced fatalities taking the death toll in the state to 714. East Khasi Hills reported 7 fatalities while West Jaintia Hills, Ri Bhoi, and West Garo Hills districts recorded one each.
The North-Eastern state presently has 4,993 active COVID-19 cases.
According to data from the health official bulletin, 4.82 lakh people have been vaccinated in the state with 74,600 receiving both doses.