Salantini
MEGHALAYA A·DOKO
Janera
A·CHIKKUO SALANTIO
NAKATCHENGGIPA
NIKSENGGIPA SONGBAT.
VOL NO: 62 ISSUE NO. 344
Centre to take
call on school
reopening
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The state gov-
ernment will rely on the di-
rection of the Union Minis-
try of Human Resource De-
velopment (MHRD) to de-
cide on reopening of
schools in the state.
Though there are many
options, including promo-
tions to higher classes, the
Education department is yet
to take a decision on the
matter.
Education Minister,
Lahkmen Rymbui said on
Friday that any decision of
the government will depend
on the directive of the
MHRD.
Students have missed
classes for over four
months and there is uncer-
tainty over resumption of
classes in the coming
months with the surge in
COVID cases in the state.
To a question, Rymbui
doubted the efficacy of on-
line classes as many stu-
dents in the rural areas are
being left out.
Govt to lay
bare strategy to
revive economy
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: With a view to
pepping up the moribund
economy of the state due to
the pandemic, the govern-
ment is likely to come up with
its first set of suggestions
on dealing with the COVID
hit economy by next week.
Chief Minister Conrad
Sangma on Friday said the
COVID task force set up by
the government has submit-
ted its first set of recommen-
dations which would be
made public while making
the Independence Day
speech.
"The economic task force
has different verticals and
one of the verticals was in-
frastructure sub-committee,
adding that the committee
submitted its report and rec-
ommendations on Friday.
Pointing out that there
are other sub-committees
and other verticals, the
Chief Minister informed that
the other sub-committees
are expected to submit their
report and most probably by
the end of next week, the
government will be coming
out with the first set of sug-
gestions.
Plea against
discrimination
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Chairman
of Khasi Hills Autonomous
District Council (KHADC),
who is also the MDC of So-
hryngkham, Pyniaid Sing
Syiem, has urged Chief Min-
ister Conrad Sangma to en-
sure that residents of
Umpling are not discriminat-
ed.
Syiem said that health
facilities and other offices
have refused to admit resi-
dents of Umpling.
"Just because the resi-
dents are from a place where
there are many BSF person-
nel, they cannot refuse the
needy people", Syiem said.
The MDC in a letter to the
chief minister has urged him
to direct government offices
to not stigmatise residents
of Umpling.
ST POLL
Question: Do you agree with
KHNAM that NEIGRIHMS
medical equipment supplier
should have trading license?
(Pollcloses atMidnight)
Yesterday’s Result
Question:Do you think the
governm enthas provided fi-
nancialhelp to allm arginal-
ised sections ofthe people?
YES 16% NO 84%
The Shillong Times
RNI Regn No: 13759/57
23 localities made containment zones, lockdown from Monday
Meghalaya heads towards
community spread of COVID
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The distant
thunder was building up. It
came slowly but surely.
There were signs that the
COVID situation in town
was getting out of hands.
The worry was not the five
casualties but the fresh
cases being reported with
unstoppable regularity from
the communities of different
localities. The virus infec-
tion of front line doctors and
people who came in contact
with them were alarming
enough for triggering a
sense of panic in the milieu.
On Friday, the situation
turned grim when as many
as 23 localities reported
positive cases. Quite ex-
pectedly, the government
had to press the panic but-
ton and declared contain-
ment zones in the city while
also announcing a three-day
lockdown next week.
These twin measures, it
is expected, would help the
health workers launch a
massive contact searching
COVID cases scale new high in state
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The state on
Friday witnessed its biggest
single-day spike in COVID
cases notching 52 and tak-
ing the number of active cas-
es to 495, including 419 in
East Khasi Hills.
Health and Family Wel-
fare Minister AL Hek said
that out of the 52 cases, 47
were detected in East Khasi
Hills (BSF-9, Armed Forces
7 and others 31).
Three cases were de-
tected in West Jaintia Hills
while two were detected in
East Jaintia Hills.
Among the 419 active
cases in East Khasi Hills,
BSF accounts for 287,
Armed Forces 21 and oth-
ers 111.
Ri Bhoi district has 41
cases, whereas East Jaintia
Hills has four and West
Seven patients discharged in WGH
From Our Correspondent
TURA: As many as seven
people who were quaran-
tined and placed in corona
care centres in Tura after
testing positive for COVID-
19 have been cleared of the
disease and released on Fri-
day, informed West Garo
Hills Deputy Commissioner
Ram Singh.
All seven recovered pa-
tients belong to central
paramilitary forces of the
BSF and CRPF.
"All seven were tested
and found free of the dis-
ease and allowed to be re-
leased as per health proto-
cols. We now have only nine
active cases lodged in the
Penury forces Assam migrant worker to sell baby
KOKRAJHAR: Driven by
extreme poverty and lack of
work during the COVID-19
crisis, a migrant labourer in
Assam sold his 15-day-old
daughter for Rs 45,000 but
police rescued the baby, of-
ficials said on Friday. The
man and two women have
been arrested on the charge
of human trafficking.
Dipak Brahma, a resident
of Dhantola Mandaria, a for-
est village in Kokrajhar dis-
trict, had recently returned
from Gujarat, where he
worked as a labourer. He
was jobless and finding it
hard to support his family,
Total no of pages - 12
Security personnel ask a scooterist and passers-by to return home at Mawbah,
one of the 23 containment zones in the city, on Friday. (ST)
in the affected localities.
The fear is that a large movement was almost nil.
number of people might
have contacted the virus al- worst descended in the lo- community transmission of
ready. Only the contact trac- cality which is perhaps the the virus.
ing will tell the extent of the most densely populated
spread.
After the death of a
woman from Mawbah on down from Sunday mid- eration," he said, even as he
Thursday, the locality was night till Wednesday mid- asserted that the lockdown
declared a containment night, Deputy Chief Minis- may be extended if the situ-
zone. During the day, all ter, Prestone Tynsong said ation takes a turn for the
shops remained shut. Pe- that the government is con- worse.
The closed OPD of Shillong Civil Hospital on Friday
after a doctor tested positive earlier. (ST)
Jaintia Hills eight.
There are 15 cases in
West Garo Hills, four in
South West Garo Hills, two
in South Garo Hills, and one
each in North Garo Hills and
East Garo Hills.
Giving details of the 31in-
dividuals who tested posi-
tive on Friday, Director of
corona care centres," said
Ram Singh.
He also informed that
contact tracing and testing
of all primary and second-
ary contacts in Dadenggre
hospital turned up negative
while a final report on 19
persons tested at Phulbari
hospital are due to be re-
leased shortly.
Rapid Antigen Tests
to be new protocol
The DC has informed that
random testing will now be
primarily with the Rapid
Antigen Tests which can
detect within minutes if a
person has had or is having
the disease based on anti-
gens in his blood.
"The new protocol is for
according to an official of an
NGO working against hu-
man trafficking. After his re-
turn, the family started liv-
ing at the house of his in-
laws in Kochugaon Patakata
village in the same district.
The family still lived a hand-
to-mouth existence, neigh-
bours said. During these
tough times, Brahma's wife
gave birth to the girl, their
second daughter. Their
elder daughter is a year-old,
Nedan Foundation chair-
man Digambar Narzary said.
"Brahma tried to find a
job during the pandemic but
it was hard to come by. With
ESTABLISHED 1945
SHILLONG, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
destrian and vehicular cerned about the escalating
cases and the lockdown is
A sense of fear for the to ensure that there is no
"We had no other option
area of the town. but to re-impose the lock-
Announcing the lock- down in Shillong agglom-
Health Services (MI), Dr
Aman War informed that six
of them are admitted at pri-
vate hospitals, include two
at Bethany Hospital and
four at H. Gordon Roberts
Hospital, five at NEIGRI-
HMS, including a doctor
from Orthopaedics depart-
ment, (Contd on P-7)
rapid antigen testing in 71
clusters across the state in-
cluding Tura and other
parts of Garo Hills. Focus of
the tests will be on clusters
having a large population,
including Tura, Rongram,
Garobadha and other
towns," said Singh as he
added that this new method
will lift the strain on the RT-
PCR testing module.
The deputy commis-
sioner pointed out that the
laboratory at Tura Civil
Hospital conducting the RT-
PCR tests was overwhelmed
with the huge number of
tests being carried out.
"The number of RT-CPR
tests at the lab is so high it
was putting a heavy strain.
almost all doors to earn a liv-
ing closed, Brahma decided
to sell the newborn," he
added. The man sold his
daughter to two women for
just Rs 45,000 on July 2 but
kept his wife in the dark,
Narzary said. Brahma's wife
and villagers lodged a
complaint at Kochugaon
police station after they
came to know about it later.
"On receiving the com-
plaint, police swung into
action and rescued the baby
from the two sisters. We also
arrested the man (Brahma),"
police said. During interro-
gation, the two women
More docs
test positive
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Following the
coronavirus infection of a
senior anesthesiologist at
Civil Hospital on Wednes-
day, two other doctors from
Nazareth Hospital and
NEIGRIHMS were tested
positive on Friday.
Sources said that the af-
fected patient in Nazareth is
a junior doctor and he is
awaiting RT-PCR test. The
doctor is currently undergo-
ing self-quarantine.
An Orthopaedic doctor
from NEIGRIHMS has also
tested positive.
Nazareth not sealed
The Commissioner and
Secretary, Health and Fam-
ily Welfare (Contd on P-7)
We have almost 300 pend-
ing tests still to be con-
ducted by the RT-PCR ma-
chine," he revealed.
Contacts test negative
West Garo Hills Deputy
Commissioner, Ram Singh on
Friday informed that all
primary contacts of the
Bholarbitha random sam-
pling case including those of
the Dadenggre CHC case
have tested negative.
A resident from Bholar-
bhita in the plains of West
Garo Hills was found to be
positive for the virus during
a recent random testing. The
person who was asympto-
matic has since been sent to
the corona care centre.
(Contd on P-7)
claimed that they had
bought the baby for a child-
less couple related to them.
"We are really thankful
to the police for rescuing the
baby. But the issue is of
very serious nature. Be-
cause of the lockdown, poor
people do not have any
work. The situation is get-
ting worse for those living
in forest villages," Narzary
said.
Lakhs of labourers re-
turned to their homes in
Assam from large cities out-
side the state after they be-
came jobless during the
lockdown.
Registered No.NE/749/2018-2020
www.theshillongtimes.com
Meanwhile, the declared
containment zones from Fri-
day are Nongrah Dong-
ktieh, Central Nongrim Hills,
Lower Nongrim Hills, Nong-
mensong Lumkdait, Dem-
seiniong (Assam Rifles Sig-
nal Unit), Lummawrie, Non-
grimmaw Arbhutnot Road,
Hopkinson Road under
Lower Lachumiere, Malki
Chinapatty, Malki Nongshil-
liang, Mawbah (Barap-
athar), Rauf Ahmed building
in Keating Road, Jhalupara,
Lumshyiap Nongmensong,
Mawlai Umjaiur, Mawiong
Rim, Laitkor Pyllun, Golf Link
Mawpun, Kreit Mawshaton
village under Mawngap,
Umshing Umjapung, Maw-
lai Mawtawar, Mawlai Non-
gpdeng and Oakland Mu-
nicipal quarters.
The Deputy Chief Min-
ister candidly admitted that
contact tracing would not
be an easy exercise and the
Health department would
need the cooperation of citi-
zens to effectively complete
the exercise.
(Contd on P-7)
WKH woman
tests positive
in city hospital
From Our Correspondent
NONGSTOIN: A pregnant
woman and resident of
Rikhen in Mairang, West
Khasi Hills tested positive
for COVID-19 at H. Gordon
Roberts Hospital in Shillong
on Friday while a highly sus-
pected positive case was
also detected here during
the first TrueNat test.
Deputy Commissioner of
West Khasi Hills T Lyngwa
said the woman tested posi-
tive when she went to the
hospital for check-up.
Meanwhile, the district
administration and the
Health department sealed
the Holy Cross Hospital,
Mairang, where the woman
had visited earlier, for 24
hours to sanitise the whole
hospital building in order to
contain the spread of the
virus.
The District Medical and
Health Officer (DM&HO)
said it was yet to be ascer-
tained who the woman might
have contacted before she
tested positive, but a team
of Health workers was sent
to investigate the matter.
It was found that she had
visited the OPD at Holy
Cross Hospital.
The deputy commis-
sioner said that the medical
staff, who were on duty on
July 20 when she visited the
hospital, will be tested and
placed under quarantine.
Suspected case
Sources confirmed that
the suspected positive
case, a policeman, was a
resident of Nongpyndeng
village and had returned
from Delhi on July 20 and
was quarantined at the in-
stitutional (Contd on P-7)
Though the state gov-
ernment had announced
that it will create job oppor-
tunities for them through
various initiatives, including
under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, the COVID-
19 outbreak has badly hit
most economic activities in
the state.
People are facing the dou-
ble whammy of the pan-
demic and floods which
have created havoc in the
state. A total of 28.32 lakh
people in 26 of the state's 33
districts have been affected
by the deluge. (PTI)
Nazareth launches
testing facility
By Our Special
Correspondent
SHILLONG: Ending a long
wait, Nazareth Hospital has
been able to add COVID-19
testing facility to its wide
array of health care facilities.
According to the CMO
of the hospital, Dr Gordon
Rangad, ICMR has ap-
proved the use of US-FDA
approved closed real time
Polymerase Chain Reaction
(RT-PCR) systems like Gen-
eXpert which Nazareth Hos-
pital has begun using from
July 23.
For now the diagnostic
machine is being used to
test their own staff and pa-
tients and samples sent by
the Government.
Dr Rangad said the Gen-
eXpert can test eight sam-
ples at a time. He informed
that the tests for those with
MHIS are covered under the
scheme, while others with-
out insurance cover will
have to pay Rs 3,200 for the
test.
According to experts the
advantage of GeneXpert is
that testing can be done
closer to the point of care
(rather than only in central-
ized laboratories), which
theoretically would improve
turn-around times for test
results as compared to labo-
ratory instruments.
Another advantage of a
GeneXpert facility is that
KHNAM dismisses
justification issued
by NEIGRIHMS
Issue of tender work to outside
By Our Reporter firm
celled and others be given
SHILLONG: The Khun
Hynniewtrep National
Awakening Movement
(KHNAM) has called the
attempt of NEIGRIHMS to
defend the purchase of
heavy medical equipment
through an outside firm
without trade license from
the Council as unsatisfac-
tory.
In a statement issued
here, the KHNAM youth
wing president, Thomas
Passah Passah, said that
the KHADC should make a
legal stand on the said
comments of the officiating
director of NEIGRIHMS.
He said, “The hospital
authority has admitted that
‘the rule in NEIGRIHMS
says clearly that any com-
pany tendering for supply
or work has to have a trad-
ing license”.
“It is clear that the com-
pany/firm, which has been
entrusted with the NEIGRI-
HMS work, does not have
a trading license, therefore
the tender should be can-
` 5.00
not much space is needed
to house the equipment.
Head of Microbiology,
NEIGRIHMS, Dr AC Phukan
said the RT-PCR diagnostic
machines require nearly ten
big rooms at NEIGRIHMS.
He said the sensitivity of
GeneXpert is as good as RT-
PCR.
"From processing to re-
porting, it takes a total of two
hours on the GeneXpert
machine. This reduces the
time taken for testing," Dr
Phukan said.
GeneXpert uses car-
tridges for rapid testing of
COVID-19. These cartridges
are manufactured by US
Company Global Drug
Facility (GDF), while
GeneXpert is manufactured
by a US firm Cepheid.
The cartridges can be
used to detect COVID-19 in
approximately 45 minutes.
The only concern accord-
ing to experts is India's in-
ability to manufacture the
cartridges locally.
Meghalaya now uses
Truenat in Tura Civil Hos-
pital. Truenat is smaller and
battery operated and re-
quires minimal training. It is
usable even in smaller set-
tings such as the primary
health centres. It uses a
chip-based technology and
takes just up to 60 minutes
for a test, screening or con-
firmatory test, Dr Phukan
informed.
preference”, he added.
Passah said that the re-
gional party had raised ob-
jections to the purchase of
two air decontamination
units by the NEIGRIHMS
through an outside firm
without the trade license.
They party also ex-
pressed doubts over mal-
practice in finalising the
tender for purchase of the
equipment as a local bidder
with a low-cost quotation
was rejected over a much-
expensive quoted price of
an outside firm.
“We are very much
aware that the equipment is
not manufactured in the
country and any firm se-
lected will have to import
the said equipment”, he
said.
Passah said that the of-
ficiating director of NEI-
GRIHMS has carelessly
used the support of the
present emergency situa-
tion and the safety of the
institute's medical staff for
justification.
(Contd on P-7)