Five suspected coronavirus-infected persons quarantined in Kashmir

At least five persons with a recent history of travelling to coronavirus-affected countries have been quarantined by health authorities in Kashmir after they showed symptoms of the disease.

An official at super-specialty SKIMS hospital in Srinagar told DH that the five persons have been kept in the isolation ward at the hospital. “Samples of the suspects were collected and sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. While two have tested negative, the reports of other three are still awaited,” he said and added all of them are being monitored by a team of medicos.

While two each among them had traveled to China and Iran, the fifth had traveled to Thailand. A government official said 21 suspected cases have been tested till date across J&K and no positive case has been reported so far.

He said two suspects, who had fled from a Jammu-based government hospital's isolation ward on Wednesday evening were brought back on Thursday. The official said relatives of one of the persons forcefully took their patient with them after which the other one also fled. The duo had traveled to coronavirus-hit Italy and South Korea recently.

Amid mounting concerns with regard to increase in number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, commonly called coronavirus in the country, J&K administration have taken several measures to prevent the spread of the disease in the Union Territory (UT).

The structure for coronavirus control efforts ensure creation of adequate quarantine, isolation and other requisite facilities besides undertaking adequate measures for surveillance of home quarantine persons.

The preparedness and arrangements have also been put in place for screening the passengers and tourists which arrive daily by air to Srinagar airport.

Coronavirus is a type of virus that typically affects the respiratory tracts of birds and mammals, including humans. The virus first surfaced in Wuhan, China in December 2019 but has since spread to different countries including India.

Globally, at least 92,000 people have been diagnosed with the illness with over 3200 deaths reported so far mostly in China. In an unprecedented move that will likely have massive repercussions the world over, Saudi Arabia recently imposed a temporary ban on all umrah (minor haj) pilgrims to keep the country safe from the coronavirus.

The World Health Organization has warned the world was in “uncharted territory” as coronavirus cases continued to spread in the West.