Meghalaya on April 13 reported the first case of COVID-19 in the state.
A doctor working in Shillong was found COVID-19 positive.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma confirmed the news and appealed that anyone who visited the Bethany Hospital since March 22 should self quarantine and inform 108 at the earliest. “I request everyone to come forward and inform us. This will go a long way in contact tracing,” Sangma said.
Media reports said that while the doctor has no travel history, one of his relatives returned from New York on March 22.
Meghalaya Health and Family Welfare Minister, AL Hek, said that the government has directed that no patient from the particular hospital where the doctor was functioning comes out of it premises.
“The hospital will now be turned into a quarantine camp and the entire hospital staff, family members of the doctor and even the attendants who visit the hospital will be tested,” the minister was quoted as saying by The Shillong Times.
With this, barring Sikkim, all the 7 Northeast states have reported COVID-19 positive cases.
