Doc among 12 succumb to virus, 489 test +ve in J&K

Death toll in UT rises to 333; total positive cases stand at 18,879

OF THE NEW CASES, 355 ARE FROM KASHMIR AND 134 FROM JAMMU DIVISION; ACTIVE CASES IN THE UT STAND AT 7,661 AFTER 483 MORE PATIENTS RECOVER

SRINAGAR/JAMMU: A doctor, posted as medical officer at Gurez in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, was among the 12 people who died due to Covid-19 in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

Dr Shabir Ahmad Malik was infected while treating patients at Gurez and tested positive in the first week of July. He was initially discharged from hospital on July 15 after his tests came negative. However, he was again hospitalised on Monday after he developed bilateral pneumonia with a fall in oxygen saturation. He died on Tuesday morning at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital due to Covid-19 infection, according to an official spokesman.

Advisor to lieutenant governor Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar and financial commissioner of health and medical education Atal Dulloo expressed condolences on Malik’s demise. “The selfless services of the medical officer during this pandemic are highly appreciable and will make our Covid warriors fight the deadly virus with even greater determination,” the spokesman quoted Bhatnagar.

Over 50 doctors and many more healthcare workers have been infected with the disease in Kashmir valley.

Officials said 11 people sucumbed to the infection in Kashmir and one in Jammu division. With this, the death toll in the UT has risen to 333—309 fatalities in Kashmir and 24 in Jammu division till date.

A 25-year-old man from Ramban district succumbed to the infection.

Dr Dara Singh, the medical superintendent of the Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu, said the sample of the youth from Suligam in Ramban was collected on July 15 and he tested positive subsequently. “He was admitted in the isolation ward of GMCH on July 21. The patient had co-morbidities such as spinal tuberculosis, jaundice and gluteal abcess for 10 months,” Dr Singh said.

He was put on ventilator on July 27 and died at 5.30am on Tuesday. He is the first Covid-19 fatality in Ramban district.

A 60-year-old man from Budgam, who was admitted to Sher-ikashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, on July 23 as a case of hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and community acquired pneumonia also succumbed to coronavirus.

FRESH INFECTIONS

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 489 fresh Covid-19 infections, taking the total number of positive cases in the Union territory to 18,879, officials said.

Of the new cases, 355 are from Kashmir and 134 from Jammu division. Among these, 79 patients have a travel history.

Active cases in the UT stand at 7,661 after 483 more patients recovered on Tuesday. A government spokesperson said 46 people were discharged in Jammu division and 437 in Kashmir.

HOME QUARANTINE FOR ASYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS WITH NO COMORBIDITIES

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided to allow home quarantine of asymptomatic patients with no comorbidities, provided they can have a separate room for themselves in the house and download the Aarogya Setu app, officials said.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam to review Covid-19 mitigation measures in the UT.

It was also decided that four tertiary hospitals in Srinagar and three in Jammu city will now be referral facilities for Covid-19.

“In order to achieve better compliance amongst the contacts of patients, it has been decided that the present practice of administrative quarantine of Covid positive contacts, will be dispensed with and the contacts shall be permitted home quarantine provided they are asymptomatic,” according to a statement.