Meghalaya has recorded its second death due to COVID19 after an eight-month-old baby from Arunachal Pradesh passed away on Monday.
Meghalaya recorded the first COVID19 death on April 15 after the first patient, 69-year-old doctor, Dr John L Sailo Ryntathiang, who was the director of Bethany Hospital in Shillong, succumbed to the virus within 24 hours.
Health minister AL Hek said the infant was referred to North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) hospital from Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Arunachal Pradesh for treatment of a different ailment.
With this, Meghalaya has now recorded 89 COVID19 positive cases including 44 active cases, two deaths while 43 persons have recovered.
“On their arrival in the early hours on Monday morning, the swab samples of the baby, his parents and the driver were collected and sent for test. Unfortunately, the baby boy tested positive for COVID19 on arrival and died in the evening,” Hek said.
“The swab samples of the parents of the infant and the driver tested negative for COVID19,” the minister said.
According to Hek, the infant was admitted to NEIGRIHMS earlier this year but went back to Arunachal Pradesh before the nationwide lockdown.
