Two JU Profs, Addl Secy, 11 at Dental College Jammu; many in offices test +ve

Tourist among 2 dead in Valley, 280 infected

48 fresh cases in Leh

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU/SRINAGAR/LEH, Apr 5: A tourist from Gujarat was among two persons who died of COVID-19 and 442 others tested positive including 280 in Kashmir and 162 in Jammu while 241 others recovered from the virus today. Number of active positives today touched four digits after several months in Jammu region.
Five Dental students and six patients tested positive for Coronavirus in Indira Gandhi Government Dental College (IGGDC) Jammu, seven at Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s Shalamar Road branch, five at LIC office Shalamar, six at Miran Sahib and a couple at Royal Apartment Hazuri Bagh. An Additional Secretary rank officer in the Civil Secretariat and two Professors in the Jammu University have also tested positive.
IGGDC Jammu Principal Dr Rakesh Gupta told the Excelsior that class work in the College has been suspended for couple of days while the concerned Department where the students were tested positive have been shut. However, Emergency and OPD services were made functional after fumigation.
Dr Gupta said Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) was conducted in the Dental College during which five Dental students and six patients who had come to the hospital for treatment tested positive for the virus.
A day before also four doctors and couple of patients had tested positive in the IGGDC Jammu in RAT. However, the doctors were sent for RT-PCR testing in which three of them reported negative, the Principal said.
A Professor each in Physics and MBA Departments of the Jammu University and an employee of the MCA Department were also found infected during the testing.
An Additional Secretary-rank officer, who belongs to Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) reported positive for COVID-19.
During RAT drive in Jammu City offices, seven persons at Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s Shalamar Branch and five of LIC at Shalamar also tested positive. All of them were asymptomatic. Couple of days back, 16 officials of Jammu and Kashmir Bank at their Zonal Office at Panama Chowk and Patel Nagar (Canal Road) branch had tested positive.
Six persons at Miran Sahib and a couple at Royal Apartments Hazuri Bagh near Talab Tillo have also tested positive for pathogen.
Twenty three travelers tested positive at Katra Railway Station in Reasi district and all of them were sent back from the Station itself.
Among 162 positive cases in Jammu region, the highest 97 were reported in Jammu district followed by 14 Udhampur, eight Kathua, six Poonch, five Rajouri, two Samba and one in Kishtwar district. Doda and Ramban districts didn’t report any new cases today.
Sixty persons recovered from the virus in Jammu region, 52 of them in Jammu district and eight in Kathua.
Jammu region now has 53529 Corona cases. Among them, 1024 are active positives while 51764 have recovered from the virus and there have been 741 casualties in the region.
Meanwhile, Kashmir today reported 280 cases of COVID-19 while two persons died. And Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in Bandipora has made COVID vaccination mandatory for ration supply.
An order issued here by the Assistant Director FCSCA Bandipora today asked all consumers of the district above 45 years of age to get vaccinated at the nearest health facility.
“Please remember that without producing COVID-19 vaccination certificate ration will not be issued in any case”, read the order.
And two persons died of COVID in Kashmir taking the death toll in J&K to 2,010. The dead include a 60-year-old tourist from Gujarat. He was admitted on 2nd April in Chest Diseases Hospital Srinagar after testing positive after testing negative a day before at Srinagar Airport.
Interestingly, the tourist like the one from Pune Maharashtra who died on Wednesday last week had tested negative for the COVID-19 at the Srinagar airport.
A few more tourists are admitted to CD hospital as well as Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital.
Those who tested positive today include 141 from Srinagar, 47 Baramulla, 19 Budgam, 2 Pulwama, 21 Kupwara, 09 from Anantnag, 11 Bandipora, 6 Ganderbal, 21 Kulgam and 3 from Shopian.
With fresh cases, the number of positive cases in Kashmir division has reached 79,925 including 75,526 recoveries and 1,269 deaths.
The number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 4,154 including 3,130 from Kashmir division.
With 241 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached 127,290, which is 95.38 percent of the total cases.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir today ordered the cancellation of all the leaves while directing the district health officials to refrain from forwarding any kind of leave to the directorate office till further orders.
“It is enjoined upon all the Chief Medical Officers/Medical Superintendents and other Territorial Offices falling within the jurisdiction of this Directorate that amid an upsurge of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the leaves either sanctioned or under consideration at Directorate level or respective offices of CMO’s and other DDO’s in respect of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and other officials of this Department are hereby cancelled forthwith, except Maternity Leave and Leave taken in view of extreme medical exigencies,” a circular issued here by the DHSK read.
It also said that all the Chief Medical Officers/Medical Superintendents and other Territorial Offices are directed to “refrain from forwarding any kind of leave to this Directorate till further orders.”
Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Ladakh today reported 48 new COVID positive cases, all in Leh district.
With this, the UT’s Corona tally has reached 10303. Among them, 363 are active positives including 332 in Leh and 31 in Kargil while 9810 have recovered from the virus and there have been 130 casualties-86 in Leh and 44 in Kargil.