1st COVID-19 case in Meghalaya, 2 days curfew declared in Shillong

April 13: The first positive case of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 was reported from the state of Meghalaya. A doctor has tested positive for coronavirus in Shillong. The District Magistrate has imposed curfew for the next 48 hours starting from 6 am on April 14. The curfew will exempt essential services. With this, barring Sikkim, all the 7 Northeast states have reported COVID-19 positive cases.

The 69-year-old doctor from the Bethany Hospital in Shillong tested positive on Monday. The hospital is being turned into a quarantine centre, and doctors, nurses and other staffs would be put under surveillance for next 14 days. All the patients are likely to be placed in quarantine for the next 14 days. Family members of the patient would be put under home quarantine.

Confirming this, Health and Family Welfare Minister, AL Hek said that the matter had been discussed with the Chief Minister and he had already directed the Commissioner and Secretary of the Health Department to ensure that no patient from the particular hospital where the doctor was functioning comes out of it premises.

Media reports said that while the doctor has no travel history, one of his relatives returned from New York on March 22. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma appealed that anyone who visited the Bethany Hospital since March 22 should  self quarantine and inform 108 at the earliest. “I request everyone to come forward and inform us. This will go a long way in contact tracing,” he said.