SHILLONG, April 21 - Another person tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya last night, taking the total number of active cases in the State to 11.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, in a late night tweet, gave information about the new COVID-19 case. �One of the family friends of the positive patient has also been tested positive. The person is already in quarantine centre. The total number is at 12. One deceased and other 11 are stable,� Sangma tweeted.
The first COVID-19 patient was a doctor who passed away last week. The Chief Minister further informed that rapid antibody tests were conducted on all the seven family members of the person who tested positive last night. All the seven test results were, however, negative.
The State has also taken steps to increase the �real time Polymerase Chain Reaction tests capacity by deploying GeneXpert machine at NEIGRIHMS.�
In all, 933 samples have been tested in the State. As many as 831 tests results were negative and 100 results are awaited, the Chief Minister said.
He stated that 7,500 rapid test kits for testing antibodies have arrived and this would further enhance the testing capabilities of the State.
On a section of the public seeking that the Government should make public the name of the active COVID-19 patients, the Chief Minister rejected the demand, stating that it would infringe on the privacy of patients.
There is also the fear that such sensitive details would further ostracize the patients and lead to social stigma in the State, which has witnessed the unfortunate incident of the first patient being denied a resting place by residents several localities in the initial stages.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister held a review meeting with officials from the Education, Health, Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies departments.
