Shillong, April 6: The sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the state has raised alarm bells across the state with Meghalaya Health Minister A L Hek not ruling out the return of a lockdown if the cases continue to rise.

The state has been witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases in recent days and till Monday the infection rate stood at 102 positive cases.

One of the causes for the rising number has been attributed to returnees carrying the virus on them. But what has compounded the situation further is the discarding of health protocols by the public.

The health minister observed that people were no longer following the proper guidelines of face masks, hand washing and social distancing to combat the spread of the disease.

“Citizens cannot be complacent because if people are taking things lightly then it might lead to the second wave of Covid-19. If cases continue to rise then the government will have to impose another lockdown,” warned the health minister.

He acknowledged that the spike had been because of the returnees who are coming from other states and urged the public to be alert.

The state has launched the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) an online disease surveillance platform and regular meetings between district hospitals right down to the sub-centers in each district would be held to prepare the health teams for any eventuality.

Through this system, any disease outbreak would be contained in that particular area itself and prevent its spread elsewhere. This system is expected to play a vital role in detecting and containing Covid infection spread also.

The state health department has also given the green signal for the Covid workers whose contract had already lapsed to return to work.