JOIN USTwo members of a family were tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh, taking the total number of cases in the union territory to 22, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
However, 16 of the patients were already cured and discharged from hospitals.
"We have received 32 sample reports from NCDC (National Centre for Disease Control), New Delhi and two of them are positive," Commissioner Secretary (Health) Rigzin Samphel told reporters here.
He said both the cases are members of the same family hailing from Sankoo village, which was already declared a containment zone last month.
"They had returned to Kargil from Delhi on February 29. We have identified 29 contacts of these people and segregated them in high-risk and low-risk categories, besides taking their samples for testing," he said.
Samphel said the 11 people in the high-risk category were shifted to isolation wards, while 18 others in the low-risk category were put under home quarantine.
Meanwhile, over 230 stranded passengers left Leh in a fleet of 29 vehicles, including four SRTC buses, for their homes in Zanskar sub-division of Kargil district on Tuesday morning.
With this, a total of over 850 residents of Zanskar who were left stranded in Leh and Kargil due to the lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 spread have reached their homes, the officials said, adding that they were directed to remain in home quarantine for the next 14 days.
Welcoming the evacuation of the stranded passengers, Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor, LAHDC, Kargil Feroz Ahmad Khan appealed to Lieutenant Governor Radha Krishna Mathur for facilitating inter-state movement of stranded people of Kargil in different parts of the country and provision of security for bringing these passengers back home.
In a letter to the LG Ladakh, Khan stated that in view of the prevailing situation due to COVID-19 and the problems being faced by the residents of Kargil stranded outside UT Ladakh due to the extended lockdown, subsequent cessation of traffic, besides hot climatic conditions, LAHDC Kargil would like to propose that it will make all necessary arrangements for bringing the residents of Kargil back home via surface transportation.
"LAHDC (Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council) Kargil also plans to utilise the services of stranded taxis, private vehicles as well as SRTC and disaster management resources for ferrying residents back to their homes while strictly adhering to the standard operation procedures and guidelines issued by authorities with regard to COVID-19 mitigation," he said.
Khan has assured the LG Ladakh that due screening of all the returnees would be ensured before their entry into the district at a feasible location.