Coronavirus: Meghalaya reports 6 new cases, all linked to 1st patient

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma took to Twitter to inform that of the total tests conducted, 6 have come positive and all had connections to the doctor who was the state’s first Covid-19 patient .

Meghalaya reported six new Covid-19 positive cases on Wednesday morning with all of them having links to the first patient, a doctor who expired in the wee hours of the day.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma took to Twitter to inform that of the total tests conducted, 6 have come positive and all had connections to the doctor who was the state’s first Covid-19 patient and was also the managing director of Shillong-based Bethany Hospitals group .

“Of the 68 tested so far, 6 have come out positive who are all family members and helpers of the first Covid-19 positive case. 6 other cases are being retested. All the rest of the cases are negative,” Sangma tweeted.

The deceased patient had tested positive on Monday and the state government had traced nearly 2,000 primary and secondary contacts. Tests had been conducted on 90 samples, nearly half of the primary contacts of the patient.

“I am deeply saddened to inform that the first Covid-19 positive patient in Meghalaya passed away this morning (Wednesday) at 2:45 am. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones,” Sangma tweeted.

The first patient, a popular doctor in Shillong, passed away in Bethany Hospital. It is suspected that he got infected from his son-in-law, a pilot with Air India who had returned from New York to Delhi on March 16 and came to Shillong on March 24.

Though the pilot was under quarantine till April 7, he was asymptomatic and wasn’t tested for Covid-19 earlier.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that one of the relatives of the concerned person had a travel history to one of the infected countries and he was back in Shillong before the 14-day quarantine period was over,” Sangma said on Tuesday.

“Though the person took all precautions but sometimes we see asymptomatic cases as well, who don’t show any signs but could be a carrier. Therefore there is a high chance that it could have been passed on from there. We are looking at all possibilities of how this could have happened,” he added. 

Meghalaya now has a total of seven Covid-19 cases and one fatality. The total number of cases in Northeast stands at 46 with Assam recording 32 cases, 7 cases in Meghalaya, 2 each in Manipur and Tripura and one each in Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

While one patient each has recovered in Manipur and Tripura, two deaths have been recorded, one each in Assam and Meghalaya.