2000 arrive in two trains, 50,000 cross Lakhanpur
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 12: With around 50,000 people crossing Lakhanpur to return home in Jammu and Kashmir from different parts of the country and around 2000 reaching Udhampur Railway Station today in two trains from Karnataka and Goa, the Coronavirus cases recorded highest single day jump in Jammu with 12 persons testing positive for COVID-19 including six in Kathua, four in Samba and two in Reasi, one of them a frontline worker of Reasi Municipality, taking total number of cases in the region to 90 and active cases to 34.
A 24-year old pregnant woman hailing from village Kotli Nandpur in Ramgarh area of Samba district was among the today’s positives but her source of infection remained untraced though she had visited Vijaypur Hospital for medical examination and a private clinic for ultrasound. Her husband had returned from Hyderabad about two months back before lockdown, SSP Samba Shakti Pathak told the Excelsior and said all family members of the woman have been isolated for sample testing while her contacts including doctors and paramedical staff, who had examined her and conducted ultrasound, are being identified for quarantine and testing. Kotli village has been declared as Containment Zone. All family members of the woman were asymptomatic.
Rest all 11 positives were returnees from different States, mostly the workers and drivers.
Since the Coronavirus pandemic broke out, this is for the first time that 12 COVID positive cases have been reported from the region but the sources attributed the spike to return of stranded people of the Union Territory from different parts of the country.
District Magistrate Kathua OP Bhagat said so far around 50,000 persons have crossed Lakhanpur, the gateway to the Union Territory from different States with nearly 2500 persons crossing the J&K’s border today alone and there was no let up in the influx as more and more people continue to reach the entrance with desire of heading home as nationwide lockdown has exceeded one and a half month.
However, for the first time in the lockdown, two trains carrying stranded persons of Jammu and Kashmir landed at Udhampur Railway Station from Karnataka and Goa carrying around 2000 people.
Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Dr Piyush Singla told the Excelsior that 992 stranded persons reached Udhampur from Karnataka and over 1000 from Goa. The train from Karnataka reached Udhampur in the morning and from Goa in the evening, he said.
“For 22 coaches of the train arriving from Karnataka, we had deployed 44 Data Entry Operators (two for one coach) to register the returnees using IT platform ‘Transit Information Management System’ at Udhampur Railway Station,” Dr Singla, who personally supervised arrival of the stranded persons and their dispatch to different district headquarters for administrative quarantine and sample testing, said.
He added that samples of some of the passengers were taken at Railway Station itself as per the protocol while samples of people from some districts will be taken at their respective district headquarters.
The passengers were offered food packets and water bottles on their arrival at Udhampur Railway Station. More trains from different States are scheduled to reach Udhampur in next few days bringing the people of J&K who have been held up in different parts of the country back home.
An official statement by the UT Government said that 37157 inhabitants of J&K have so far crossed Lakhanpur on way back home while 1250 people were evacuated from Uttarakhand’s various areas including Dhanaulti, Nainital, Pithorgarh, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Pauri, Champawat, Rudraprayag, Bhageshwar, Tehri Garhwal, Partapgarh, Bardkot, Dharchula, Almora and Munshiyari, during last four days.
The statement said around 2000 workers of J&K have been stranded in Uttarakhand and 1250 of them have been brought back to the Union Territory.
Out of 37147 returnees from Lakhanpur, 18095 came from Himachal Pradesh, 10301 from Punjab and 6515 from other States and UTs including New Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, a total of 12 persons today tested positive for COVID-19 in Jammu region including six in Kathua district, four in Samba and two in Reasi.
Of four persons tested Corona positive in Samba district, two hailed from Bari Brahmana where they were living in slums. Originally, there are residents of Uttar Pradesh and were truck driver and conductor. One of them, a 19 year old, had travel history of Khanpur, Punjab while another had returned from Ludhiana.
They had returned on May 7 and 8 from Lakhanpur and were under administrative quarantine at a resort in Rajpura.
A 33-year old worker from Jerdha, Ramgarh in Samba, who also had travel history of Punjab and had returned to his house on May 1, tested positive for Coronavirus today.
A 24-year old woman from Kotli, Nandpur in Ramgarh town of Samba, who is pregnant, has also tested positive for COVID-19. She had no travel history but her husband had returned from Hyderabad about two months back before lockdown. Police said she had visited Vijaypur hospital as well as private clinic.
Contact tracing of all four positive cases of Samba district is on for isolation and sample testing. Doctors and paramedical staff which had examined the woman are being identified for isolation.
While the pregnant woman has been shifted to COVID hospital of Gandhi Nagar, the three other Corona patients from Samba district have been admitted in the Chest Diseases Hospital, Bakshi Nagar.
A frontline COVID worker-a 29 year old employees of Reasi Municipality, tested positive today. He had no travel history but was part of sanitization teams. He hailed from Ward No. 1 Reasi. A 26-year-old returnee from Chassana, Mahore in Reasi district also tested Corona positive today.
Both of them were immediately shifted to the Chest Diseases Hospital Bakshi Nagar while their family members have been isolated for quarantine and sample testing. Their localities have been sealed by police and declared as Containment Zones.
Six persons-five from Basohli and one from Mahanpur, Billawar in Kathua district today tested positive for COVID-19. All of them had returned from different parts of the country and were under administrative quarantine where their samples were taken for testing.
The 53-year old man from Mahanpur, Billawar in Kathua district had returned from New Delhi and was under administrative quarantine.
Among five positive cases of Basohli, three belonged to Basohli town and two to village Dodla. They were aged between 22 to 42 years. While one of them had returned from Bangalore, four others had come back from New Delhi where they had been working and were under quarantine at a Government schools.
All six positives from Kathua district and two from Reasi have been shifted to Chest Diseases Hospital, Bakshi Nagar, Jammu. Last night, a returnee hailing from Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua district was tested positive for Coronavirus.
CD Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Rajeshwar Sharma said all Corona positive patients admitted in the hospital today were asymptomatic and their condition is stable.
With today’s 12 positive cases, total number of Corona patients in Jammu region has gone up to 90 and active cases to 34 as 55 patients have been treated and discharged while there has been one death.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate Rajouri Mohammad Nazir Sheikh today also ordered opening of non-essential shops in the district on rotation basis with fixed time.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
