COVID-19 second wave: Meghalaya govt extends complete lockdown in East Khasi Hills till 24 May

Shillong: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma Thursday announced the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown in the worst-affected East Khasi Hills district till 24 May. The decision to extend the lockdown for another week was taken following a review of the COVID-19 situation. The state government on 8 May had extended the lockdown in East Khasi Hills district till 17 May. To curb the spread of the contagion, a complete lockdown had been imposed in the district from 8 pm of 5 May to 5 am of 10 May. State capital Shillong is located in East Khasi Hills district. “A review meeting on the #COVID19 situation was held today. In view of the increasing trend of active cases & based on the report received from districts, Government has decided to extend the #Lockdown in East Khasi Hills till 24 May 2021,” the chief minister tweeted. Deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said, 319 more COVID-19 cases and 16 fatalities were reported from the district on Thursday. During the day, the district registered the maximum number of active COVID-19 cases (2,121) out of the total 3,726 such cases in the state. Meghalaya on Thursday recorded the highest single-day spike of 591 COVID-19 cases, Health Services Director Aman War said. The state also recorded 18 fresh COVID-19 deaths with 16 of them reported from the East Khasi Hills district, and one each from West Jaintia Hills district and East Jaintia Hills district, he said. According to the senior health official, 228 patients recovered from infection during the day. To date, the state has reported 21,576 COVID-19 cases and 268 deaths. A total of 17,582 persons have recuperated from the disease so far, War said.