SHILLONG, July 21 - The total active cases of COVID-19 in Meghalaya have risen to 416. Meanwhile, 70 patients also recovered in the past 24 hours.
Most of the active cases are concentrated in East Khasi Hills district and include BSF and other personnel of armed forces.
Some roads leading to the BSF frontier headquarters at Mawpat and Umpling have been blocked so that people cannot go there.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong today said that the State Chief Secretary had held a meeting with the BSF Inspector General. A similar meeting with the station heads of the armed forces was also held today.
The armed forces should make sure that their personnel are kept in isolation in their respective facilities and do not mix with the civilian population, the State Government insisted in the meetings.
It also urged the armed forces to arrange their own testing facilities in their respective units and headquarters so that it would ease the burden on the district administration, Tynsong added.
The Deputy Chief Minister lashed out at the Opposition Congress for reportedly asking the State Government to make names of COVID-19 patients public.
Tynsong said that medical ethics mandates that details of patients and their kind of infection should not be disclosed. The State Government has, however, disclosed the names of high-risk persons to COVID management committees at the locality level.
This was done to monitor the movement of such patents in the localities and encourage them to stay quarantined and not violate the laid protocols.
Tynsong said the Leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma, being a medical practitioner himself, should know better about medical ethics and should guide his party men.
The Deputy Chief Minister added that an FIR against 47 persons who attended a wedding ceremony at Khanapara, Guwahati recently by violating health protocols, would be filed.
On the current flood situation in the Garo Hills districts, Tynsong said that reports from the deputy commissioners are awaited and once these are received, the Government would be able to assess the extent of flood damage.
�The flood situation in the Garo Hills is very grim,� Tynsong said, adding that the DCs have been asked to provide immediate relief to the affected people.
Spl Correspondent from New Delhi adds: Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed his grief over the loss of precious lives due to the floods in West Garo Hills in Meghalaya. �I have spoken to the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and assured him of all possible help from the Central Government to him,� Shah tweeted.
