SHILLONG, April 15 - After detection of a spate of COVID-19 cases in Meghalaya, the State Government�s lack of preparedness as far as timely dissemination of information is concerned, has been exposed.
In the past 48 hours, the social media had been full of speculative information on the COVID-19 cases. Till the filing of this report, the Government had come up only with the bulletin on the test results, released in the morning.
Credible information is available only through the Chief Minister�s tweets, giving the exact position on the test samples sent to different testing centres here and in Guwahati.
There are allegations that people are not being able to access helpline numbers or get conveyance to report to hospitals. Moreover, they have to stand in queues for hours to get themselves tested.
On the other hand, the State Government�s information handles on WhatsApp are providing information to the press after the official releases are already in circulation on the social media.
On several occasions, journalists have to cross-check with the authorities concerned about news being circulated on the social media, as some of it is not disseminated from the official handles, leading to confusion and speculation.
