KO Pic: Abid Bhat
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir recorded eight fresh cases of coronavirus, including three from the Valley on Thursday, taking the number of cases to 70.
Those tested positive to the disease included a resident of Sopore who was discharged after three days from a Srinagar hospital on March 24 as he tested negative.
According to doctors the 70-year-old had returned on March 15 from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah.
Following an announcement by the administration that those who returned from abroad should report for tests, the elderly turned up at Sopore health facility on March 21 where from he was advised to visit GMC, Baramulla. He was later shifted to CD hospital Srinagar, the doctor said.
“He was kept under observation at CD hospital for three days and after his test came out to be negative, he was discharged,” a doctor said.
On March 31 the elderly visited Sopre Health facility again after he complained of uneasiness in breathing and developed other symptoms, the doctor said. The doctors at Sopore referred him to GMC Baramulla where his sample was taken afresh and sent to SKIMS Soura. “The report came out to be positive,” the doctor added. During his stay for almost a week between 24 and 31 March, the doctor said, “he has maintained isolation and nobody visited him.”
Regarding other two positive cases, sources said, one of them is a 20-year-old youth from Saderkote Balla in Bandipora who had come in contact of COVID-19 patient while other is a 53-year-old from Soibugh Budgam who had met his son-in-law who tested positive for the disease previously. All of them are admitted to SKIMS from where Kashmir’s first COVID-19 patient, a 67-year-old woman from Srinagar, has been discharged.
According to Nodal Officer for coronavirus control at SKIMS, Dr G H Yatoo six more persons were admitted to the hospital and their samples have been taken and sent for the test.
HOD, CD Hospital Dr Naveed Nazir Shah said that the test reports of first COVID-19 have now come negative and all the other patients are responding well to the treatment. He said 48 samples were received at the hospital and 24 of them came out to be negative.
Meanwhile reports from Jammu said, five persons including father, wife, and servant of a COVID-19 doctor, tested positive for the disease there. With eight fresh cases, the number of COVID-19 patients in J&K has gone upto 70—53 in Kashmir and 17 in Jammu division.
The mother of the doctor, who works in the Microbiology Department in the Government Medical College Jammu, has tested negative. Two more persons who tested positive are contacts of COVID-19 patients from Udhampur district, they said.
Meanwhile, the Government also informed that 17677 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance so far.
As per the daily Media Bulletin on novel coronavirus, 10694 persons have been kept under home quarantine (including facilities operated by Govt.) while as 622 are in hospital quarantine while 65 persons have been kept in hospital isolation.
Persons who are under home surveillance stand at 4109 while as 2187 persons have completed their 28-day surveillance period.
It said that 1084 samples have been sent for testing of which 1010 tested as negative and four test reports are awaited as on 1500 hours.
First COVID-19 Patient Recovers, Returns Home
Meanwhile Kashmir’s first positive case, the 65-year-old woman from Khanyar area of Srinagar has recovered and has been discharged from Sher-e-Kashmir institute of medical sciences (SKIMS) Srinagar.
Doctors at SKIMS said that the woman was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after she tested negative for the virus twice.
Doctors have advised her to follow the mandatory quarantine of 14 days or 28 days at her home.
All her contacts have also fortunately tested negative.
“First coronavirus patient from Kashmir discharged from hospital,” government spokesman Rohit Kansal said in a tweet.
The woman became the first coronavirus case in Kashmir on March 18.
She had returned to Srinagar after the Umrah pilgrimage from Saudi Arabia on March 16.
Meanwhile, another COVID-19 patient who is admitted at Chest Disease (CD) hospital Srinagar here has tested negative, an official said Thursday.
“Good news from CD… First patient admitted in CD turns negative,” tweeted Head of department Chest Disease hospital Srinagar Dr Naveed Ahmad Shah.
324 More Walk Home After Quarantine
Authorities here on Thursday released another batch of 324 people from various quarantine facilities in the city, taking the total number of those who successfully completed the isolation period to 638, officials said.
“About 324 more persons who had returned from overseas countries being discharged after completing their two-week quarantine in Srinagar. Total number of persons discharged so far is now 638,” the Srinagar District Administration tweeted.
This was the third group of people to be released from quarantine facilities in the city in as many days.
While 236 people were discharged and allowed to go home on Wednesday, 78 people completed their isolation period on Tuesday.
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