BSF jawan, woman among positives in 5 distts
*3 trains arrive, more on way
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 15: Following surge in arrival of stranded persons from different parts of the country, Jammu region today recorded single day highest 20 COVID-19 positive cases spread over five districts taking region’s tally to 122 and active cases to 63.
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Today’s positives included a BSF jawan posted in Udhampur and a soldier’s wife who had been allowed to stay at home in Kalsian area of Nowshera tehsil in Rajouri district along with family after returning from New Delhi along with dead body of her mother-in-law.
Thirteen positive cases were reported in Ramban district, three in Kathua, two in Udhampur and one each in Jammu and Rajouri districts, official sources told the Excelsior.
Significantly, some of the family members and contacts of an elderly man from Preet Nagar, Digiana in Jammu district, who had died due to Coronavirus to become second COVID casualty in Jammu region, have tested negative.
Eleven persons from Ramban district today tested positive for Coronavirus in Command Hospital at Udhampur, Lt Col Inam Danish Khan, Classified Specialist Microbiology, in the hospital told the Excelsior. Two inhabitants hailing from Banihal tehsil in Ramban districted tested Corona positive in a Srinagar laboratory where there samples had been sent, taking today’s tally of the district to 13.
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Yesterday, three persons from Ramban including two students, one of them a female, had tested Corona positive. Ramban now has 16 active cases of Coronavirus in the total of 17.
All those tested positive in Ramban today were students and workers who had returned from different parts of the country in trains and buses, sources said, adding they were under administrative quarantine and are in the process of being shifted to the Chest Diseases Hospital, Bakshi Nagar, Jammu.
All of them are asymptomatic. Their contact tracing is on.
A 31-year old woman, wife of a soldier and a resident of Kalsian, Nowshera in Rajouri district has also tested positive for Coronavirus.
She along with some of her family members had returned from New Delhi few days back carrying body of her mother-in-law who had passed away in New Delhi. The woman was cremated at Kalsian,
Sources said some locals had attended cremation of the woman while others had visited her residence at Kalsian. Surprisingly, the woman despite travel history from New Delhi, was allowed to stay home. However, now her family members and contacts are being isolated for quarantine and sample testing.
In Jammu district, a 33-year old youth of Kishenpur Manwal has tested positive for Coronavirus. He too had returned from New Delhi recently.
A BSF jawan posted in STC Udhampur, who hailed from Faridkot, Punjab and had returned few days back from his home State, has tested positive. His sample was taken at Lakhanpur. Sources said four to five persons had accompanied the BSF jawan and they, apart from his other contacts, are being traced.
A 22-year old youth from village Bhatta in Ramnagar tehsil of Udhampur district, who had returned from Pune and was under administrative quarantine in Udhampur, tested positive for COVID today.
Three persons of Kathua district who tested Corona positive today hailed from Basohli, Dayalachak and Chan Morian and were under administrative quarantine. All of them had crossed Lakhanpur recently from different States.
With today’s 20 COVID cases, highest in a single day, the Corona tally in Jammu region has gone up to 122 while active cases have risen to 63.
All 20 persons tested positive today are asymptomatic and are being sent to Chest Diseases Hospital, Bakshi Nagar for admission, Medical Superintendent Dr Rajeshwar Sharma said.
Mendhar police in Udhampur district today registered case against two persons of Mankote, who humped administrative quarantine for few hours.
The Central Government has asked the States and Union Territories to hire special buses for transportation of train passengers, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh said.
“(Narendra) Modi Government constantly trying to further facilitate the movement of stranded persons in the wake of lockdown. Centre has issued orders allowing States and Union Territories to hire special buses for transportation of train passengers,” Dr Jitendra Singh tweeted.
He said the concerned district administration will make arrangement for transportation of people to their homes who test negative at the quarantine centres to ensure that people reach their houses smoothly.
Over 2200 stranded persons of the Union Territory reached Udhampur and Jammu Railway Stations in three trains today while another train from Nagpur in Maharashtra which was scheduled to reach Udhampur this evening has been delayed by about 11 hours and will now arrive tomorrow morning carrying another 1000 stranded people.
Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Dr Piyush Singla said the first train from New Delhi reached Udhampur this morning carrying 523 stranded persons while the second from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh reached in the afternoon with 781 passengers, majority of whom were students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) hailing from Kashmir.
“Total 1304 stranded persons reached Udhampur today taking number of persons who have arrived by six `Sharamik Special’ trains during last four days to 5346,” Dr Singla said, adding that a train from Nagpur which would have reached Udhampur this evening is running around 11 hours late and is now expected to reach tomorrow morning carrying another 1000 passengers.
The District Magistrate said the stranded passengers have been sent to their respective district headquarters for administrative quarantine and sample testing. Samples of some of the persons were taken at Chenani in Udhampur district as per the set protocol.
Nine hundred passengers reached Jammu in second commercial passengers train from New Delhi this morning. Yesterday, the train had brought 1018 passengers.
As per the protocol, the passengers are being subjected to sample testing at Railway Station and then dispatched to their respective district headquarters for administrative quarantine. The people whose test reports for Coronavirus come negative will be sent for home quarantine.
An official statement issued by the Union Territory Government said so far 7264 persons have reached Jammu and Udhampur through special trains while 49218 have returned from different States crossing Lakhanpur in Kathua district. They included 11513 from Punjab, 18286 from Himachal Pradesh, 3905 from New Delhi, 650 from Gujarat, 1538 from Rajasthan, 2401 from Haryana, 96 from Chhatisgarh, 2666 from Uttarakhand, 326 from Maharashtra, 2766 from Uttar Pradesh, 42 from Odisha, 35 from Assam, 814 from Madhya Pradesh, 88 from Dehradun, 486 from Chandigarh, 316 from Telangana, 142 from Bihar and 3148 from other States.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate Kathua OP Bhagat today also ordered opening of shops dealing in non-essential commodities on rotation basis in the district.
The shops dealing with clothes, readymade garments, shoes, manyari/cosmetic, crockery and utensils will open on Sunday only from 11 am to 5 pm. Grocery shops will open on Monday and Friday only while stationery, mobile, electronics, and fans/coolers shops will open on Saturday, Hardware and sanitary goods shops will also open on Saturday.
Vehicle repair workshops on national Highway will open on Monday while cement stores/godowns/outlets will open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7 am to 5 pm.
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