To effectively monitor home quarantine and prevent further spread of COVID19, Meghalaya government is using the Quarantine App developed by IIT-Mumbai.
Those, who have visited Bethany Hospital in Shillong and Nongpoh as well as those identified as primary or secondary contacts of the first COVID19 positive patients, have been mandated to download the Corontine App.
All families under compulsory home quarantine who have downloaded the app will be given free home delivery of rations so that they don’t have to step out of their homes.
On Sunday, no fresh case of COVID19 was reported in Meghalaya.
A total of 766 samples were sent for test, out of which 678 samples tested negative while the results of 77 tests are awaited.
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma said all the eight people, who tested positive, are stable and in home quarantine while the domestic help of the index patient is in institutional quarantine.
There are 4,198 people in home quarantine and 175 are under institutional quarantine.
On the Corontine App, the CM said the database of about 5,300 individuals, who fall in the above categories, is with the health and family welfare department.
“These individuals will all receive an SMS or a link via WhatsApp on their mobile phones to download the app,” he said.
“The features of this app are to ensure that the users follow quarantine protocols and also notify if there are positive cases around you and it helps authorities contain the spread of the virus,” Sangma said.
“The state government will also ensure that all families under compulsory home quarantine, who have downloaded the app, are given free home delivery of rations so that they don’t have to step out of their homes,” the CM said.
He assured that the process would begin from Wednesday next and all the homes would be reached soon.
Seeking the support of traditional village chiefs of all the localities and the quarantined homes, Sangma said, “By Sunday night, the Bethany Hospital would be completely evacuated.”
He also said all the doctors, other staff members and in-patients of the hospital were tested and the results were found negative; however, the results of three samples are awaited.
“All who tested negative have been shifted to various isolation facilities or discharged to go home and 14 doctors and staff members are in Bethany Hospital to complete quarantine,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bethany Hospital, whose founder Dr. John L Sailo Rynthathiang was the first COVID19 patient who succumbed the deadly virus on April 15, has expressed its gratitude to each and every member of different communities for their selfless efforts.