Naveed Ul Haq
Budgam, Apr 30: At least nine contacts of a policeman from central Kashmir’s Budgam district have so far tested positive for deadly COVID-19 in the district during past 15 days.
The policeman hailing from Rathsuna village of the district had tested positive on April 16.
The nine contacts of a cop who had direct or indirect contact with him are hospitalized while many other have been put under quarantine, creating panic among the villagers.
The cop before being declared positive by the concerned authorities was screened at Srinagar’s Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial (JLNM) hospital too after he was posted at a quarantine center in Karim Abad Bemina where COVID-19 suspects were quarantined and few of them later tested positive.
At least two dozen people who had come in contact with the cop were traced and were kept under administrative quarantine. The Uncle of the cop, who was tested also quarantined, was later tested positive.
Imtiyaz Maqbool Banday, Nodal Officer Beerwah said that soon after the cases started mounting from the village, they took 59 random samples from the area, which brought a fresh positive case to the fore as a pregnant lady tested positive.
He said that soon after the first case was detected in the village, the authorities sealed many areas to prevent the virus from spreading. “We took all the necessary steps and advised people to reveal their contact history,” he said.
However, he said that none from the villagers came voluntarily to reveal the contact history with the positive case, which led to the increase in the number of cases.
The total number of positive cases in the district has mounted to 20 while 11 among them are active and nine others have recovered and were discharged from the hospitals. (KNO)
