As cases spike, Govt orders engagement of MBBS, Nursing students across J&K for 3 months

A boy being subjected to COVID test in Mendhar in Poonch district on Tuesday. — Excelsior/Rahi Kapoor
A boy being subjected to COVID test in Mendhar in Poonch district on Tuesday. — Excelsior/Rahi Kapoor

MP man among 3 die in Jammu, 1546 fresh positives
Pr Secy with wife, kin; 21 in Civil Sectt infected
10 each at BGSBU, Sainik School; 4  each in BOSE, Aadhar office test +ve
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 18: Three persons including a middle-aged man from Madhya Pradesh died of COVID-19 in Jammu division today while 1546 persons tested positive for the virus as Jammu district headed close to record four-digit daily cases while spike continued in the Union Territory of Ladakh also where 152 fresh cases were registered.
A senior IAS officer in the rank of Principal Secretary, his wife and kin, residents of Sidhra, tested positive for COVID-19 today. A total of 21 persons were found infected at the entrance of the Civil Secretariat, the seat of the Government, during the day.
Ten staffers and students at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) Rajouri and 10 at Sainik School Nagrota were also found positive for the viral infection. DC Rajouri Vikas Kundal has declared the BGSBU as micro-Containment Zone.
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After 40 villagers were found positive for the virus at Bassi Kalan in Samba a day before, 27 villagers tested positive at village Bainglar in the same district.
Four each at Board of School Education (BOSE), Aadhar Card Office and Sabzi Mandi Narwal and two at LIC office in Panjtirthi were detected positive for Coronavirus.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch at Mandi in Poonch district was closed after four employees tested positive.
Eleven more pilgrims of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine were also found positive for the virus during testing on their arrival at Katra Railway Station.
A 42-year-old man hailing from Aasmani Mohalla in Amanganj area of Madhya Pradesh, who was putting up at Panj Peer area in Rajouri district, died of COVID-19 and other ailments.
A 30-year-old fully vaccinated man but co-morbid, a resident of Ramban, succumbed to the pathogen in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu.
A 63-year-old woman from village Kalyana in RS Pura tehsil of Jammu, who was also fully vaccinated, died of co-morbidities and virus at Fortis Escorts Hospital Amritsar.
Jammu district today reported 919 COVID positive cases. This was the first time in all three COVID waves that Jammu district inched close to four-digit single-day cases. On May 12, 2020 during second COVID wave, Jammu district had recorded highest 658 cases.
Meanwhile, the Health and Medical Education Department today asked the Director SKIMS Soura and Principals of Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) Jammu, Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla, Doda, Rajouri and Kathua to engage Medical and Para Medical students for duties due to sudden spike of COVID-19 positive cases.
An official order issued by the Department , however, said that not more than 33 percent of the total available students should be engaged at one instance for utilizing their services for COVID mitigation to avoid any shortage of manpower in Territory Healthcare facilities.
“This shall be done on an urgent basis for a period of three months,” the order said.
During the period of engagement, the Medical PG interns will be paid Rs 25,000 per month while Medical UG Interns and Final Year MBBS students will get Rs 22,000 per month. Final Year BSc Nursing students will be entitled to Rs 20,000 per month while Final year GNM students will be paid Rs 18,000 per month, the order said.
Meanwhile, DC Jammu Anshul Garg today declared five more places as micro-Containment Zones.
The area include Lane near BSNL Tower at Baba Fareed Nagar in Kunjwani, Lane near Yogananda Dhyan Kendra near Green Park Officer’s Enclave at Muthi, Lane near Bharat Shiv Ashram at Panjgrain, Nagrota, Lane near H.No. 105 B near Alpha Collection at Basant Nagar, Janipura and Lane near H.No. 52, Sector 7 near J&K Bank in Trikuta Nagar.
Meanwhile, a piquant situation arose in the District Development Council (DDC) Kishtwar meeting when BDC Palmar chairperson Lalita Kumari refused to left the meeting even after testing positive for COVID-19. Another member from Marwah, who reported positive, left the meeting venue. Lalita opted for second test at the District Hospital Kishtwar where she came negative.
Among a total of 1546 COVID positive cases in Jammu division, 919 were registered in Jammu district followed by 184 in Udhampur, 109 Samba, 94 Kathua, 78 Reasi, 74 Rajouri, 49 Doda, 18 Poonch, 15 Ramban and six in Kishtwar district.
As against 1546 new cases, 549 daily recoveries were reported today.
Jammu region now has 1,36,762 Coronavirus cases. Among them, 1,26,354 have recovered from the virus while there were 8180 active positive cases and 2228 casualties.
Fatalities include 1174 in Jammu district, 240 Rajouri, 156 Kathua, 142 Udhampur, 138 Doda, 120 Samba, 102 Poonch, 68 Ramban and 44 each in Kishtwar and Reasi districts.
Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Ladakh today reported 152 new COVID positive cases including 132 in Leh district and 20 in Kargil district.
Total active positive cases in Ladakh have gone up to 844—714 in Leh and 130 in Kargil.
Corona count in Ladakh stood at 23536. Of them, 22470 have been treated while there were 222 deaths—164 in Leh and 58 in Kargil.