Srinagar, Apr 3: The number of COVID-19-affected patients increased in Jammu and Kashmir to 75, with five more persons testing positive for the infection on Friday, officials said.
Of them, four are from Kashmir Valley including 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 at SMHS said.
The doctor said after his sample came out positive, he was shifted to Chest Disease hospital Dalgate.
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 no activity in wake of the suspension of trade by India and Pakistan after revocation of Article 370 in August last year.
The fourth positive case is a 38-year-old from Eidgah and he had come in contact with a 10-year-old who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week.
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.
Addressing a presser at Jammu, Principal Secretary Planning, Information and Government Spokesperson, Rohit Kansal said so far are 75 cases of COVID-19 in J&K.
Flanked by Director Information Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar and Mission Director Bhupinder Kumar, Kansal said that 70 of them are active patients as three others—two from Jammu and one (first Covid-19 patient) from Kashmir have been discharged while two others died. “We are expecting one more case to be released,” he said, adding, “out of 70 active cases, 54 are in Kashmir and 16 are in Jammu.”
Meanwhile, one of the exclusive Covid-19 management hospitals in Kashmir announced that the all patients are “doing well” and that one of them has “cured” to be discharged after completing the quarantine period
“All positive patients doing well. One cured will be discharged after completing quarantine period. 6 more samples of positives taken and their results are awaited. Two patients have been discharged and put under quarantine in their districts,” Dr Naveed Nazir Shah, HoD of the CD hospital, said in a tweet.
Talking to GNS, he said, 24 reports were received on Friday and barring one—regarding the man referred from SMHS—all tested negative.
Professor Farooq Jan, Medical Superintendent SKIMS, said that 18 more people with symptoms-like COVID-19 were admitted to hospital and their samples have been taken and sent for tests. (GNS)
