Shillong, May 26: As the lockdown imposed in most parts of Meghalaya completed 26 days as on Wednesday, everyone is worried if the government will extend the lockdown further. The lockdown has severely affected the unorganized sector and the lower strata of the society as they have been scurrying around to manage a square meal a day.

The situation is particularly dire in East Khasi Hills being the worst affected district and has been under continuous lockdown for close to a month, in comparison to other districts that have had intermittent lockdowns.

The current period of lockdown is scheduled to end on May 31, 2021. However, the current spate of the high number of COVID-19 cases daily is a concern for the government. The state recorded 846 new positive cases on Wednesday, taking the number of active cases to 8,055.

Speaking about the government’s viewpoint on the current situation, Health Minister Alexander Laloo Hek expressed if the current surge in cases continues, the lockdown will be extended.

“As the health minister of the state, I feel that if the cases keep on increasing, we have to continue with the total lockdown,” Hek told reporters. Although, he noted that COVID positive cases have started to slightly decrease in the last few days but they aren’t low enough to take a concrete call on lifting the lockdown in the district.

“So it is very difficult to take any call at this moment as we still have to see how the situation will unfold in the next five days,” he said.