Maid linked to Meghalaya victim's family tests coronavirus positive

SHILLONG: A domestic help of Meghalaya's first Covid-19 victim's family tested positive for the virus on Saturday, taking the total cases in the state to 13, health officials said. The state now has two active Covid-19 cases.
The swab samples of the woman, who is in her 30s, had earlier tested negative, the health officials said. However, her samples were re-tested according to protocol, and the results showed she had contracted the virus, the officials said.
"Unfortunately, we have another positive case in Shillong. It's a person working in the same house. As a precaution, health department was retesting all the primary contacts and in the process we found this positive case," chief minister Conrad Sangma tweeted.
"The person is safe and healthy and is showing no symptoms," Sangma added.
A senior official in the health department said the patient had been admitted to a government hospital designated for treatment of Covid-19 in the city. "We are going to the collect the swab samples of her husband, her two children and her neighbours," the health official said.
Deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong in his daily briefing said the patient was one of the 181 primary contacts of the first Covid-19 patient in Meghalaya. "This newly infected person happens to be from the same source, that is, from the first patient who is now deceased. She happens to be a maid servant, and had undergone home quarantine since April 14," the deputy CM said.
However, the family of the deceased, said the woman was not in contact with them since April 15, when the patient died. "There was no contact between the latest case and any of the members of the family since April 15," the family said in a statement issued via WhatsApp.
"Therefore, the contacts whom she has been exposed to from April 15 onwards cannot be accounted for," it added.