Five fresh COVID-19 cases reported in JK, total tally 75 now
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir on Friday reported five new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Union Territory to 75, a senior government official said.
As many as 5,316 people were put under surveillance on Friday, increasing the total number of people being monitored for suspected coronavirus infection to 22,993, he said.
“The total number of positive cases for COVID-19 has gone up to 75. Five new cases were reported today”, Principal Secretary Information and Planning, Rohit Kansal, told reporters here.
He said that of the five new cases, four have been reported from Kashmir and one from Jammu.
While the four cases from Kashmir are contacts of positive cases the verification for one in Jammu is underway, he said.
Meanwhile, officials said that those who tested positive for the virus today include included a 38-year-old who escaped on Thursday from SMHS hospital. A resident of Chattabal area of Srinagar, already declared among red zones’, the man had even mentioned his name wrongly at the hospital registry. “He was brought back by police,” a senior doctor said.
The doctor said after his sample turned out positive today, he was shifted to Chest Disease hospital Dalgate which among two other Srinagar hospitals is exclusively meant for COVID-19 management.
Among the three other persons who tested positive, sources said, two are from Uri area of Baramulla and are teachers by profession. They had come in contact with a COVID-19 patient from Samba region of Jammu and were lately under quarantine at Salamabad trade facilitation centre as it sees to no activity in wake of the suspension of trade by India and Pakistan after revocation of Article 370 in August last year.
Besides them, a tea stall owner from Lower Gorkha Nagar in Bagh-e-Bahu area of Jammu also tested positive for COVID-19. According to the officials, he has no travel history and his contacts are being traced. Among the 75 cases, 57 are in Kashmir Valley and 18 are in Jammu division.
Giving details on testing, Kansal said that 1,218 tests have been conducted in the UT so far, and 6.15 per cent of them — 75 samples returned positive.
An aggressive campaign to trace contacts is going on and testing is one of highest among states and UTs, he said.
Jammu and Kashmir is the first among UTs and state in the country to have its own testing facilities, he said.
He said that out of 2,000 contacts of positive cases, 975 have been traced and all of them will be subjected to testing, he added.
As many as 34 red zones — 24 in Kashmir and 10 in Jammu — have been declared in Jammu and Kashmir, where special arrangements have been put in place with strict enforcement of restrictions, he said.
He said that out of 75 positive cases 3 (2 from Jammu Division and 1 from Kashmir Division) have recovered and there is every likelihood that one more case will recover very soon.
Kansal revealed that Jammu and Kashmir has also been testing cases aggressively and so far 1218 tests have been conducted which is 6.5% of total under surveillance.
The government spokesperson said that nearly 2000 contacts of positive cases have been identified of which 975 have been traced and tested. He reassured that all the identified contacts will be traced and tested for Covid 19. He said, “We plan to test every single one of the 2000 contacts that we have identified.”
Kansal said that in all 34 hotspots/red zones have been identified in J&K of which 24 are in Kashmir Division and 10 in Jammu Division. These include 7 in Pulwama, 4 in Bandipora, 4 in Budgam, 5 in Srinagar, 2 in Shopian, 1 each in Ganderbal and Baramulla in Kashmir Division. 4 in Jammu district, 5 in Rajouri and 1 in Udhampur district of Jammu Division.
Kansal informed that steps have been initiated to enhance and upgrade the health infrastructure in UT and said that 68 new medical professional including doctors/specialists/paramedics/medical officers/nurses have joined their respective duties. The UT Government is also procuring masks, PPEs and ventilators to augment the existing health infrastructure and every possible effort is being made to ensure that there is no shortage of manpower in the health sector.
He assured that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure sufficient supply of essential commodities. The NH 44 Highway has been reopened and made functional and nearly 800 trucks and tankers have crossed Jawahar Tunnel carrying essential goods to the Valley. He informed that supply of fruits and vegetables and POL has also reached the Valley. The downward movement of material from the Valley such as apples from cold stores has also started.
He informed that since the beginning of lockdown upto 8 AM in the morning, 5037 trucks carrying essential goods containing foodgrains (1579), LPG (384), POL tankers(123), fruits and vegetables (1530), medicines and health supply (180), milk (180), cattle feed /fodder 372 have entered J&K from Lakhanpur. In order to augment the supply lines, he said that 248 local industrial units have been made operational. These include units manufacturing animal feed, pharmaceutical products, surgical bandage, masks, hospital gowns besides eatables like flour,rice and edible Oil.
Deliberating on the Advisory issued by the Principal Scientific Advisor regarding the importance of masks in containing the spread of Covid 19, Kansal said that J&K Government has decided to educate the public about the usage of masks.
He said that different categories require different kinds of masks. Health Workers and Frontline Professionals including people dealing with essential services require specialised masks while others may not require such specialised masks. We will ensure that required quantity of masks is supplied to each category. The Rural development Department has been assigned the responsibility to prepare cotton masks through the engagement of Self Help Groups, NGOs and others who are willing to volunteer.
Kansal said that AYUSH Ministry has also issued advisory regarding use of immunity boosters to fight Covid 19 effectively. He said that Government will ensure that all these immunity boosting products are made available to the people. (with inputs from PTI, GNS)
