Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir recorded its second highest single-day rise in the number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday as the tally reached 184 with 152 cases in Kashmir and 32 in Jammu.
Out of the 24 persons who tested positive in the Valley on Thursday, 11 are family members of a 52-year-old man from Gund Jahangeer in Bandipora district of North Kashmir who become the third victim of the virus on April 7. He was the first person to get infected in the area and his test results were confirmed only after his death in the SMHS hospital in Srinagar.
Another family, which included three children and their parents, from Sullanda village of Tangmarg in Baramullah district also tested positive for Covid-19. These five are relatives of the second coronavirus patient in J&K who died on March 29. His three family members — son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter also tested positive on April 4.
These two deceased persons share the same peculiar story — they were found to be Covid-19 positive by sheer chance. The man one from Bandipora, a diabetic patient as per his family, fell ill on April 6 and was rushed to the government hospital in Pattan, Baramullah where the doctors shifted him to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) in Srinagar, without any inkling that the man carried the deadly virus.
The man breathed his last at around 2am on April 7 and his swab was incidentally taken and, as per hospital sources, he tested positive after his death.
The story of the Tangmarg patient is more complex. He was taken to the SMHS hospital after developing, as per his family, some problem in his liver which got worse. He was tested in the same manner — after his death on March 29 — and tested positive.
He was the first person to test positive from Tangmarg and had no travel history or established contact. His case has been a cause of concern for health officials. Since his death, 12 more persons have tested positive from his village (Mulland) — almost all connected to him or his family. The relatives of this Covid-19 victim where reportedly not quarantined till April 7, as per sources in the health department.
There are allegations that one person who tested positive on Thursday was kept in quarantine for just five days and then allowed to go home. He had a travel history to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. He was left to spread the virus for almost two weeks before his test result came out.
There are several such families in the state. One case has been reported from Srinagar’s Eidgah in which all the five members of family got infected. In Uri, Baramullah a coronavirus positive father infected his three daughters aged 8,12 and 14.
Cases are piling up in Kashmir with 54 more infected persons found in last two days (on April 8 and 9). The total number had jumped from 98 on April 7 to 152 on April 9. There have been four deaths and six patients have fully recovered and discharged from hospitals. The state government says the surge in positive cases is due to more testing.
Comments
0 comment