10-year-old boy among 6 more test positive, J&K Covid-19 tally crosses 50-mark

Srinagar, March 31 (GNS): The number of covid-19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday rose to 55 as three more persons have been confirmed to have contracted the dreaded disease, all of them from Kashmir and include a ten-year-old boy, who had hugged a man who later tested positive for coronavirus.

“6 new positive cases confirmed in Kashmir Division.  All contacts of previous positive cases. Meanwhile contact tracing continues in both Jammu and Kashmir Divisions.  Please cooperate. Let’s #Fightittogether,” tweeted Principal Secretary Information Department.

Official sources told GNS that the boy, a resident of Eidgah Srinagar, tested positive for the pathogen and he had no history of travel. “He had hugged a man who later tested positive for the coronavirus,” a senior doctor at SKIMS told GNS. He also confirmed that the boy’s test came out to be positive early morning.

Two among those who tested positive are presently admitted to JNLM hospital and had come in contact with a man from Bemina who has tested positive earlier.  

With these six more persons testing positive for the globally raging disease, the number of covid-19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to 55.

On Monday, J&K recorded second single day jump in covid-19 cases as 11 persons were confirmed to have contracted the dreaded disease in J&K and included a doctor in Jammu. 

In an ominous development, this was the first case of a doctor contracting the novel coronavirus in the erstwhile state. 

Officials said that the doctor was working as a microbiologist at the microbiology laboratory of Government Medical College Jammu. While the doctor has been moved to isolation, all staff working in the laboratory and others who might have come in his contact were shifted to quarantine.

Meanwhile, the government has said that several areas surrounding location of covid-19 cases or untraced contact cases had to be sealed in Jammu, Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian, and Rajouri in the interest of controlling spread of the dreaded disease. 

“Aggressive contact tracing of positive cases key to control spread of #Coronavirus. Yesterday several areas surrounding location of positive cases or untraced contact cases had to be sealed in Jammu, Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian, Rajouri,” tweeted Rohit Kansal.

“This is purely in the interest of controlling spread of #coronavirus, and helping identification of contacts on real time basis,” Kansal, who is also the government spokesman said.  “Inconvenience so caused is temporary in nature but benefits will be immense. Request all to cooperate and take it in right spirit,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said the sealing of the areas is important and indispensable. “With some more cases coming positive these areas will be restricted till all precautions and measures are in places,” he added. (GNS)