Srinagar: Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir has confirmed three more coronavirus cases, with the total number of cases reaching a tally of seven.
According to the sources, one of the two new patients in Kashmir is a 57-year old resident of Natipora, Srinagar, who returned from Saudi Arabia on March 16. While the other person who has tested positive is said to be a 65-year old resident of Hyderpora, Srinagar. The patient returned from New Delhi recently after being part of a ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ attended by people from Indonesia and Malaysia.
The third person is a resident of Baramulla in northern Kashmir and his sample was sent to the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar.
He has been quarantined in the Government Medical College, Baramulla.
As per the details, 4,765 persons are under observation in Indian-occupied J&K. The Indian government had sent 279 samples for testing out of which seven cases have been found positive and reports of 20 samples is still awaited, while the rest were found negative.
J&K administration has decided to seal its borders with the neighbouring, Ladakh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, even as stringent measures of registering an FIR against people who are concealing their recent travel history are being taken to control the coronavirus outbreak in the valley.
Hospitals in the disputed Himalayan region have an acute shortage of doctors and paramedics, while its healthcare facilities are insufficient to meet the crisis which has unsettled countries with world-class medical infrastructure.
Amid the alarming threat of the spread of COVID-19, Kashmir also faces a crippling blockade of high-speed internet which has effectively hampered an effective awareness campaign among the people as well as among doctors.
Internet services in the region have been blocked since August to prevent protests against the abrogation of the region’s autonomy.
Amnesty International has condemned the continuous suspension of internet services in the region and asked the Indian authorities to fully restore it.