Meghalaya Govt extends state-wide lockdown till June 14

SHILLONG:

The Meghalaya government on Friday extended the ongoing lockdown in the entire state till June 14, with certain economic relaxations to be decided by the Deputy Commissioners (DCs). 

Giving details about the lockdown here on Friday, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that though the lockdown has been imposed in the entire state, the government has allowed flexibility to different districts to allow economic activities.

“We are nowhere close to letting our guards down or taking things easy. Therefore, the government has decided to continue the lockdown for another one week."

The CM further added that the government will allow the Deputy Commissioners to decide on activities that can be permitted during the extended lockdown depending on the number of COVID cases prevalent in a particular area.

"The SDOs, BDOs, and DCs will be in a better position to decide which areas can be allowed in the blocks, sub-divisions,” he added.

He further maintained that to ensure that the unlocking process starts gradually, the trend has to be below the danger mark and the government is applying a wait and watch policy.

“It all depends on the numbers, and I urge the citizens to please bear and follow protocols,” Sangma said.

Reiterating that lockdown is a tough decision considering the economic implications it has on the public, he said that the health aspect is far more important and urged the people to cooperate with the government in bringing things under control.

“The positivity ratio has seen a marginal decline in the past few weeks as we have seen a decline in the number of case. Testing has also gone up in certain cases,” he added.

COVID cases in Meghalaya

Giving details about COVID patients, he said, there are approximately 628 patients in hospitals now, of which 102 are in the D category which means they are in ICU or under high oxygen flow, Similarly, 227 people are under the C category,115 are A category patients, and 184 are under B category.

Besides, the active cases, the positivity ratio in the state is 16.19 per cent, the recovery ratio is 82.1 per cent and the fatality ratio is 1.7 per cent, he informed.

The CM added that the positivity ratio has gone down from 16.64 per cent to 12 per cent. 

Speaking about oxygen plants, Sangma said that in the next few days the state will see the completion of 3-4 plants, and was hopeful that the cryogenic plants in Umsawli and Jengjal will be operational within 2-3 weeks.

He informed that out of 6110 cases in the state, 2119 are aged between 15-29, 1781 are between the age of 30-44, which means approximately 4000 cases or almost 70-75 per cent of the cases are between the age of 15-45.

Economic activities

The CM informed that the government has entrusted the Deputy Commissioners the liberty to allow need-based economic activities.

Pointing out to rural areas which have been hit hard by the lockdown, he said that the government has permitted the DCs to take recommendations from SDOs and BDOs to allow activities based on case prevalence.

Religious activities

As for church and religious activities, places of worship that do not involve gatherings will be allowed.

Vaccination Drive

As for vaccination, Sangma informed that the state government is expecting 66,000 vaccine doses for the 18-45 age group in the next 5-6 days time, and the vaccination drive after the procurement will be rolled out accordingly.

In addition to that, there are close to 71,000 vaccine doses available for 45 plus category people, he concluded.

(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)

ALSO READ: Meghalaya: COVID recoveries high but people should be vigilant, says CM

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