Coronavirus patients responding well to treatment in Kashmir hospital, say doctors

All the COVID-19 patients admitted to the Chest Diseases hospital here were responding well to the treatment, the hospital said on Saturday. The total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to 75, as per the UT authorities. While two patients have died, three patients have recovered from the disease, leaving 65 active cases.

All the COVID-19 positive patients admitted at Chest Diseases hospital here were responding well to the treatment, Dr Naveed Nazir Shah, head of department and in-charge of COVID-19 pandemic at the hospital, said. He said there were 19 coronavirus positive patients admitted at the hospital and some of them will be discharged soon after following proper protocol.

Dr Shah said the second consecutive test report of the first patient admitted in the hospital was also reported as negative. The renowned chest diseases specialist urged people to take all the necessary precautions, follow administrative and health advisories in letter and spirit and also appealed to them to reveal their travel history to ensure safety of all.

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"People should come clean on their travel history. Early detection helps us to put the person in isolation facilities and thus there won't be exponential spread of the virus," he said. Officials said the authorities have started an aggressive contact tracing campaign across the union territory to contain the spread of the disease.

Nearly 2,000 contacts of positive patients have been identified, they said, adding that no known contact would be left untraced Meanwhile, restrictions on the movement and assembly of people in Kashmir to contain the spread of coronavirus continued for the 17th consecutive day on Saturday.

Main roads in the Valley have been sealed and barriers erected at several places by the security forces to check the unwanted movement of people and to enforce the lockdown, the authorities said. Markets across the Valley were shut and public transport was off the roads with only pharmacies and grocery stores allowed to open as essential services including healthcare personnel have been exempted from the restrictions.

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Educational institutions across Kashmir have been closed while all public places including gymnasiums, parks, clubs, and restaurants were shut down more than a week before the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the Prime Minister announced the countrywide lockdown on the evening of March 24, the union territory administration here had on March 22 announced a lockdown across Jammu and Kashmir till March 31 as part of its efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Restrictions were first imposed in many parts of the Valley on March 19 to contain the spread of the contagious infection. The measures were taken after a 67-year-old woman from Khanyar area of the city, who had returned on March 16 from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, tested positive for COVID-19.

People Held For Defying Prohibitory Orders

Over 40 people were arrested in Kashmir on Friday for allegedly violating prohibitory orders imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus amid the nationwide lockdown, police said. Police arrested 42 people for violating the orders and the arrests were made in the districts of Kupwara, Srinagar and Ganderbal, a police spokesman said.  Police have appealed to the public to follow the restrictions imposed by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and warned of dealing strictly with those violating the restrictions. 

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(With PTI inputs)