Meghalaya to observe Coronavirus Awareness Day on March 21

The decision was taken by the Meghalaya cabinet held in Shillong on Friday evening chaired by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma

According to the press release issued by the Meghalaya Chief Minister office, all offices, banks (government and private), institutions, public places, market places and public transport will remain closed on Saturday.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma appealed the people of the state to observe the Coronavirus Awareness Day basically to create awareness and urged the people that they should not take it otherwise and term it a lockdown or shutdown.

“The idea is to leave everything aside for a day and focus and give our attention to what it is (COVID-19) and try to ensure that we educate our children, our family and our locality at large. It is imperative that awareness is created amongst all sections of the society, and tomorrow will be the day, when we can educate our society and together be prepared to break the Coronavirus chain. Simple awareness like washing hands, maintaining personal hygiene, social distancing, avoiding crowded places will protect us to a large extent,” the Meghalaya Chief Minister said.

The Meghalaya Chief Minister urged the people of the state not to panic and adopt measures particularly social distancing, maintain hand wash protocol and respiratory etiquette.  

The Meghalaya Chief Minister said that strict action will be taken against shops, establishments violating the government directive.

On panic buying, Conrad Sangma assured and stated that there is no shortage of essential commodities in the state and there is no reason for citizens to go for panic buying. 

He urged the public to inform the district administration of any matter with regards to overcharging of essential commodities.

The Meghalaya Chief Minister also appealed to the citizens to inform the government about travel history or symptoms of the disease through the helpline number 108, or by registering on the online platform meghalayaonline.gov.in/covid or by calling the control room of the DCs in the respective district.

While stating that there is no detected case of COVID - 19 so far in the state, Conrad Sangma remarked that the second pillar of Government strategy will be to ensure that the existing health care systems and facilities are strengthened and properly activated and be prepared to deal with any situation, if arises.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)