Breaking: Meghalaya Govt declares complete lockdown in Shillong from July 26-29

Guwahati: Amid the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the Government of Meghalaya has once again decided to impose a lockdown in the Shillong agglomeration from midnight of July 26 to midnight of July 29 to mitigate the spread of the dreaded virus.

Putting it bluntly on Twitter, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma wrote on Twitter, "Government has decided to impose #lockdown in the Shillong agglomeration from midnight of 26th July 2020 till midnight of 29th July 2020."

Earlier, the Meghalaya Government had imposed a complete lockdown in Shillong July 13 and 14 with a view to arresting the spread of the contagious disease. The Government later chose not to continue with the lockdown.

This development has been announced a day after the Northeast Indian state reported its 5th death from the disease. Meghalaya confirmed twenty-four more fresh cases for COVID-19 on Friday, taking the total active cases in the state to 467.

The death toll in the state mounted to 5 following the death of a 67-year old woman who succumbed to the infection at NEIGRIHMS on Thursday night.

Director of Health Services (MI) Dr. Aman War informed that the 24 fresh cases which were detected yesterday include 9 BSF troopers, 5 Air Force and 8 civilians in East Khasi Hills while 2 are from East Jaintia Hills. He added that the total active cases in the state have increased to 467.

Dr. War asserted that five patients have also recovered from the virus, which includes 3 BSF jawans from East Khasi Hills, 1 from Ri Bhoi and 1 from East Jaintia Hills. The total number of recoveries in the state has risen to 87.

In another COVID-19 related development, the Meghalaya government on Thursday identified 71 clusters that will have to go for random rapid Antigen tests. This was disclosed by the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone during a press briefing here on Thursday. Stating that the decision was arrived at after inputs from the officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Deputy CM Tynsong said that the areas are those which are susceptible to an outbreak of the viral disease.

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