Ladakh revises SOP for stranded persons
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 6: Three more persons including husband and son of a woman Corona patient, tested positive for COVID-19 today taking total number of cases in the Jammu region to 68 and active cases to 14.
The 55-year old housewife hailing from Gurha, Bakshi Nagar in Jammu had tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. She was symptomatic.
Doctors said 23-year old son and 61-year old husband of the woman also tested Corona positive today. Besides a 27-year old truck driver from Panchairi in Udhampur district, who had driven the truck from New Delhi to Jammu which is owned by the woman’s husband, has also tested positive.
The woman’s husband had travelled in the same truck from New Delhi to his residence.
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SDPO Bakshi Nagar Amit Sharma and SHO Karan Chalotra led police teams today sealed Gurha locality of Bakshi Nagar after it was declared as Containment Zone. All three positive persons, who had been isolated yesterday, were shifted to the Chest Diseases Hospital, Bakshi Nagar today.
Jammu’s total cases have now risen to 68 and active cases to 14 as 53 persons have recovered while there has been one Corona death.
Meanwhile, the Union Territory Government has made 100 percent sample testing for COVID-19 essential for all those reaching Jammu and Kashmir from different parts of the country to isolate positive cases and protect general population even as number of such people who have crossed Lakhanpur, the gateway to UT, was nearing 30,000.
J&K Government spokesman and Principal Secretary Planning, Development and Monitoring Department Rohit Kansal announced that sample testing for COVID-19 for all returnees to Jammu and Kashmir from different parts of the country has been made mandatory to isolate positive cases.
He also called upon the people stranded outside Jammu and Kashmir not to return without prior clearance saying all unauthorized returnees will be sent for 21-day administrative quarantine at Lakhanpur in Kathua district.
“All returnees being tested 100% essential to isolate any positive cases and protect the general population. Please cooperate. Please don’t arrive without prior clearance. All unauthorized returnees may be inconvenienced. 21-day quarantine at Lakhanpur,” Kansal said in a tweet.
Over 1000 people reached Lakhanpur, mostly from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab today and they were sent to their respective district headquarters for administrative quarantine, Deputy Commissioner Kathua OP Bhagat said.
With this, over 29,000 people have so far crossed Lakhanpur on way to different district headquarters after their arrival from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and some other States. The number was likely to touch 30,000 tonight or tomorrow morning as there was no let up in the influx of people, which is expected to go up when regulated movement of people of J&K stranded in various States, starts on the basis of guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and UT administration.
In the Union Territory of Ladakh also, 175 stranded people are being brought from Chandigarh in the batches of 25 in seven buses. Fourteen students of Ladakh from Sangrur, Punjab have reached J&K on way to Ladakh while others are being facilitated shortly.
The Union Territory administration of Ladakh and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC), Leh and Kargil, have already decided to evacuate their all stranded passengers from different parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given approval to start testing of COVID samples in SKIMS Medical College Bemina. This is the fifth approved laboratory of Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.
The Tourism Department of Jammu and Kashmir Government today authorized Directors of Tourism Jammu/Kashmir and other Registration Authorities to process registration/renewal cases of travel agencies, hotels, guest houses, houseboats, tourist guides, ponywallas etc as per the past practice on off-line mode up to June 30, 2020.
Another Government order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) said the use of “Aarogyasetu’ App in the mobile telephones has been made mandatory for all Government officers/officials in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Before starting for office, the users must review their status on the App and commute only when the App shows ‘safe’ or ‘low risk’ status. In case the App shows a message that they have `moderate’ or `high risk’ calculated on the basis of Bluetooth proximity (recent contact with infected persons), they shouldn’t go to the office and self isolate for 14 days or till the status becomes safe or low risk,” the order said.
The GAD has directed all Administrative Secretaries, Head of Departments and Head of Offices to ensure that the directions are strictly followed in their offices.
Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Ladakh today issued revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for movement of stranded passengers from different parts of the country by appointing Facilitation and Nodal Officers.
Significantly, an Executive Councilor and a Councilor of LAHDC Leh have also been designated as the Facilitation Officers for bringing back the stranded persons. They included Phunchok Stanzin, Executive Councilor and Punchok Dorjay, Councilor. For LAHDC Kargil, Murtaza Ali, Assistant Director Fisheries has been appointed as the Facilitation Officer.
The SOP said the passengers from Red Zone shouldn’t be mixed with passengers from Orange and Green Zones in the same bus. In case there is any mix-up, all passengers of such buses will have to undergo institutional quarantine for 14 days.
It added that stranded persons travelling in buses having movement passes will be designated as `regulated travelers’ and will be kept under home quarantine for 14 days along with their family members by the respective district administrations while those coming in `unregulated movement’ without due permission will be mandatorily quarantined in the Institutions facility for 14 days.
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