Dy Director, Retd Judge, two of family, trader, ED official among 29 more lives lost in Jammu

A deserted market in Leh city due to Corona curfew on Friday.— Excelsior/Morup Stanzin
A deserted market in Leh city due to Corona curfew on Friday.— Excelsior/Morup Stanzin

IPS officer, 19 from DC Udhampur office test COVID +ve
12 workers from BB industries infected, total crosses 50
3-day Corona curfew in Leh, night curbs in Kargil

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 7: Jammu and Kashmir’s COVID cases today crossed 5000 for the first time since pandemic broke out and the UT for third consecutive day reported 50 or more casualties. Jammu region accounted for 29 deaths and 1868 cases.
Among 29 COVID fatalities in Jammu region, 24 alone were reported from Jammu district. Rajouri district recorded four deaths and Ramban one. Of the total casualties, eight were women while three persons died at home. A Deputy Director Prosecution, two women, who were close relatives, retired District and Sessions Judge, New Delhi based businessman and an official of Education Department were among the COVID victims.
Deputy Director Prosecution in the Vigilance Organization Purshotam Sharma, 59, a resident of Kotli Shah Doula in RS Pura died of COVID-19 today.
A retired District and Sessions Judge also succumbed to the virus while his wife is admitted in the hospital.
A 44-year-old Education Department employee hailing from Bahu Fort Gorkha Nagar and posted in the Directorate of Education office breathed his last due to Coronavirus in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu today. ‘Nanad-Bhabhi’ (sisters-in-law) hailing from village Jhanghar in Nowshera tehsil of Rajouri districts also died due to COVID-19 while their another family member is critical.
A New Delhi based 44-year-old businessman, who had come here in connection with the business purposes, died of Coronavirus in the GMC Jammu.
Sixty-five year old man from Jhullaka Mohalla, 67-year-old from Kachi Chawni and 85-year-old from Bakshi Nagar died of Coronavirus at home and were later shifted to the hospital. Sixty-year-old man from Nanak Nagar passed away at Super Specialty Hospital, 50-year-old male from Gandhi Nagar at ASCOMS Sidhra, 55-year-old from Sanjay Nagar at Polo Hospital Mohali and 56-year-old man hailing from Kangdel Kandoli Nagrota at Fortis Hospital in Amritsar.
Other deaths in Jammu district were reported from Shiv Nagar, Rajpura, Sanjay Nagar, Gajansoo, Roop Nagar, Prem Nagar, Shaheedhi Chowk, Durga Nagar, Dak Bungalow, Rohi Morh, Digiana Camp, Nanak Nagar, Model Town Digiana, Gandhi Nagar and Channi Rama.
A 56-year-old man from Kaskoor Banihal died of virus at District Hospital Ramban.
A senior IPS officer, who is in the forefront of COVID management, today tested positive.
Nineteen officials posted in the office of Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Indu Kanwal Chib have tested positive for COVID-19.
Eight employees of Manohar Rice Mills and one each from Trikuta Factory, Dabur, Modern Papers and Narmada Factory were found infected at Bari Brahmana in Samba district today. More than 50 employees of various industries have tested positive during last three days of testing.
Among 1868 fresh cases, Jammu district continued to top the tally with 639 positives while Rajouri, Udhampur and Kathua have become fresh hotspots reporting 300, 292 and 226 positive cases respectively. Samba district had 121 cases, Poonch 95, Ramban 67, Reasi 52, Kishtwar 39 and Doda 37.
A total of 99 persons today tested positive for COVID-19 at Lakhanpur, the entry point to Jammu and Kashmir in Kathua district including 19 hailing from Punjab, 18 Uttar Pradesh, eight Himachal Pradesh, six Bihar, four Rajasthan, three each Haryana and Chhattisgarh and one each from West Bengal and Maharashtra besides 36 from Jammu and Kashmir.
In Rajouri, 78 persons were found infected in Nowshera, 67 Sunderbani, 53 each Rajouri and Kalakote, 32 Darhal and Kandi 17, Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Thakur Sher Singh tweeted.
As many as 954 patients today recovered from the virus, the maximum being 576 in Jammu district, 139 Samba, 76 Udhampur, 70 Kathua, 59 Reasi, 13 Doda, 12 Rajouri and nine in Poonch.
Jammu region now has 79733 Corona cases. Number of active positive cases has reached 15571 while 63065 persons have recovered from the virus. There have been 1097 casualties.
The deaths include 613 in Jammu district, 85 Rajouri, 71 Udhampur, 70 each Doda and Kathua, 67 Samba, 46 Poonch, 31 Ramban, 24 Kishtwar and 20 in Reasi district.
In the Union Territory of Ladakh, 98 persons today tested positive for COVID-19, all in Leh district as Kargil didn’t report any fresh case.
New cases have taken Corona count in Ladakh to 14909 including 1432 active positives and 13326 recoveries. There have been 151 Corona casualties in Ladakh—107 in Leh and 44 in Kargil.
The district administration Leh imposed three days Corona curfew in Leh from Friday after which Leh City wore deserted look with all shops and business establishments except Chemist and filling stations shut.
District Magistrate Kargil Santosh Sukhadeve today ordered imposition of night Corona curfew in Kargil from 9 pm to 7 am with effect from today. Essential services/activities and Medical emergencies have been exempted from the purview of curfew.
He also ordered that functions outside the Containment Zones will be permitted up to a ceiling of 25 persons only or 50 percent of the hall capacity whichever is less (in case of indoor spaces) and 20 persons for funerals.

Recovery rate on rise in J&K
The COVID recovery rate in Jammu and Kashmir is on rise for last one week.
According to the reports, as on today, 160,035 COVID patients have recovered fully in the UT. On May 1, 1801 COVID patients recovered and were discharged from various hospitals of J&K while 1453 patients recovered on May 2 and 1536 on May 3.
A total of 1878 COVID patients were discharged from various health institutions on May 4 after they recovered fully. On May 5, the number of recoveries from COVID was registered as 2338 while 2836 patients recovered on May 6. However, today i.e. on May 7, 2752 patients recovered from the dreaded disease.
As per the reports, in past one week, the recovery rate in the J&K has witnessed 52 percent rise, which is a good sign.

Daughter dies of Corona, mother of shock
In a tragic incident, a woman died soon after hearing the report of her daughter’s death due to COVID-19 at village Bhangai in Thanna Mandi area of Rajouri district.
Fifty-six years old Noor Begum wife of Muneer Hussain, a resident of village Bhangai in Thanna Mandi died of COVID-19 at the Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri.
Soon after hearing the report of Noor’s death, her aged mother Akbar Bi wife of Feroz Din, also a resident of Bhangai, died of shock.
District Rajouri today reported four COVID deaths and 300 cases, Additional DC Thakur Sher Singh said.