Hunt on to find contacts of J&K's 1st COVID-19 casualty

Deceased had been ‘everywhere’ before being confirmed positive for coronavirus

Authorities in Kashmir have launched an all-out effort to trace all those people who came in contact with a Srinagar resident who had a long travel history and succumbed to COVID-19 on Thursday.

A 65-year-old man, who was part of ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ congregations at several places including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, died after having contracted the infection. The deceased had travelled to India after attending a congregation of Islamic preachers at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) between February 27 and March 1.

So far, at least seven people who had come in contact with him, have tested positive in J&K.

J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh appealed to people to voluntarily come forward and said hiding information could prove to be “fatal”.

“All those people this person met and places where he stayed are under threat. This needs to be understood,” he said and added that efforts are being made to trace all such people and quarantine them to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The police chief said the impact of COVID-19 is seen not only in J&K but across the world. He said to ensure the lockdown as many as 329 FIRs were lodged against violators and 600 vehicles/ shops were seized/ sealed for non-compliance.

Singh said that the police along with civil administration had started to find out all those persons who are hiding their travel history. “Till now, 1200 such persons had been identified from different places and these are either those who have had a history of international travel or have come in contact with such persons. They have been sent to quarantine centres,” he said.

He said that a batch of about 300 police personnel who were outside the Union Territory for training purposes have been put under quarantine.