COVID-19: First case of new strain detected in Ladakh
Three deaths, 79 fresh covid-19 cases reported in JK
Srinagar: The Ladakh Union Territory Thursday reported the first positive case for the new Covid-19 strain having travel and stay history from Germany.
Officials said that the male Covid positive patient on arrival from outside the Ladakh Union Territory tested positive under the RT-PCR test and was immediately isolated two weeks back.
A senior health official said that a 38-year-old, male patient who was isolated for two weeks on arrival now has tested positive for the new Covid strain and has been isolated and kept at a separate isolation facility and all necessary precautions have been taken.
He said that the individual has a travel history of Germany including a stay who on arrival to Ladakh on December 26 last year tested positive for Novel Coronavirus under RT-PCR test.
“Without taking any further time samples for the variant strain were conducted given the foreign travel history and were sent to Delhi for final confirmation”, he said.
The health official said that the report from Delhi was received earlier today and the individual was found positive and infected with the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2.
He said that all the necessary precautionary measures have been taken and ensured that there is no transmission.
Health official said that the individual has a travel history of Germany and reached Paris on 24 December wherefrom he reached New Delhi on 25 and from there he left from Ladakh and arrived here on 26 December last year.
As already made mandatory for all the passengers, the official said that the individual was made to undergo an RT-PCR test and on 28 December he tested positive for Novel Coronavirus and was put at an isolation facility of SNM hospital Leh.
The official said that given the travel history all the necessary precautions were out in place and as soon as the report was received today mandatory required arrangements were made.
He furthermore said that as good things about it are the individual has not been to any place or home ever since the arrival in Ladakh and has no contacts still whatever is required will be done well on time to curtail the spread.
This is the first positive infected with the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the entire Ladakh UT, he said.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 79 new positive cases and three deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 1,22,964 and the death toll to 1,915, officials said.
Out of the fresh cases, 30 were from Jammu division and 49 from Kashmir division of the union territory, they said.
The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 26 cases followed by 23 in Jammu district.
While six districts — Shopian, Samba, Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi and Kishtwar — did not report any fresh cases, 12 districts recorded fresh cases in single digits, they said.
The number of active cases dropped to 1,468 in the union territory, while 1,19,581 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the UT reported three COVID-19 deaths from Kashmir division in the last 24 hours. (with inputs from KNO, PTI)
KV News
