Many from UP, Punjab, Bihar, HP found infected
SDRF deployed in GMC, AHs; 7 personnel test +ve
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 18: Jammu and Kashmir today reported 71 more COVID casualties and 3967 fresh cases with Jammu region accounting for 39 deaths and 1704 positives even as the administration deployed State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu and its Associated Hospitals (AHs) like Chest Diseases (CD) and Maternity & Childcare Hospital (MCH) Gandhi Nagar to assist staff in tackling rush of COVID positive victims.
Forty SDRF personnel have been deployed in the GMC Jammu, CD Hospital Bakshi Nagar and MCH Gandhi Nagar while more jawans have been kept stand-by for Super Specialty Hospital and COVID Care Centres, official sources told the Excelsior.
“The SDRF personnel are assisting the COVID positive patients and their attendants in the hospitals to meet doctors and para-medical staff and address their other concerns. They are also helping the staff in packing bodies of COVID victims as per the protocol,” they said.
They added that more SDRF personnel have been kept stand-by for deployment in the SSH Resham Ghar and other Government hospitals and COVID Care Centres if the need arises. The SDRF personnel are working under the supervision of SSP SDRF Nisha Nathyal and DySP Arvind Kotwal.
Seven SDRF personnel today also tested positive for COVID-19 here.
Meanwhile, seven districts in the Jammu region reported COVID positive cases in three digits as surge continued in rural areas especially Udhampur, Rajouri, Kathua and Samba apart from Jammu district.
Out of a total of 39 COVID fatalities, 20 were reported in Jammu district, six of them from rural belt, while Rajouri accounted for six more casualties, Kathua and Udhampur five each, Samba two and one in Doda district.
Twenty women were among the dead i.e. more than half of the total deaths in the Jammu region. Three persons died at home.
Deaths in Jammu district were reported from Trikuta Nagar (three) Sanjay Nagar, Paloura, Pallanwalla, Pir Mitha, Chatha, Mast Garh Link Road, New Plots, Miran Sahib, Kaleeth Akhnoor, Chak Bana Bishnah, Jhiri Kanachak, Durga Nagar, Subash Nagar, RS Pura, Gandhi Nagar, Channi Himmat and Shiv Nagar.
Six deaths in Rajouri district occurred at Hubbi Kallar Kandi, Muradpur, Manjakote, Khadrian Kalakote, Nowshera town and Jhanghar Nowshera while five deaths in Kathua took place at Mirpur Hiranagar, Govindsar, Ward No. 4, Ward No. 10 Dayala Chak and Basohli.
Five deaths were also recorded in Udhampur district—one each from Amroh Ramnagar, Jail Road Shiv Nagar Kathiyala, Teerni Marta Ramnagar, Industrial Estate and Katli Pari Tikri. Two deaths in Samba took place in Samba town and Bari Barahamana while one death in Doda district was reported from Akramabad.
Of 522 fresh positive cases in Jammu district, 39 were reported from Akhnoor, 37 Dansal, 24 Marh, 23 RS Pura, 21 Kot Bhalwal, 17 Pallanwalla and 13 Bishnah.
In Udhampur district, among 272 positive cases, 122 belonged to Tikri, 55 Chenani, 27 Ramnagar, 12 Panchari, 10 Basantgarh and five Majalata.
In Rajouri, Poonch, Kathua and Samba districts, nearly 70 percent cases were reported from semi-urban and rural areas.
Fifty four persons tested positive for the virus at Lakhanpur, the entry point of Jammu and Kashmir in Kathua district. They include 22 from Uttar Pradesh, 13 Punjab, three Bihar, two Chhattisgarh and one each from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Nepal.
COVID positive cases in other districts include 188 Ramban, 183 Kathua, 141 Rajouri, 123 Poonch, 107 Samba, 60 Reasi, 59 Doda and 49 Kishtwar.
As many as 1360 persons today recovered from the virus, the maximum being 644 in Jammu district, 143 Kathua, 131 Rajouri, 114 Udhampur, 96 Samba, 77 Kishtwar, 50 Doda, 46 Ramban, 42 Reasi and 17 in Poonch district.
Jammu region’s Corona cases today stood at 97817 and active positives at 21021 as 75264 persons have recovered and there have been 1532 casualties.
Deaths include 862 in Jammu district, 142 Rajouri, 104 Udhampur, 103 Kathua, 87 Samba, 75 Doda, 66 Poonch, 43 Ramban, 26 Kishtwar and 24 in Reasi district.
District magistrate Doda Vikas Sharma today declared parts of villages Deval and Kharkoli in Doda district as micro-Containment Zones after several COVID positive cases were reported from there.
Meanwhile, two COVID positive persons have escaped from COVID Care Centres in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district. They have been booked under the Disaster Management Act and efforts were on by the police to trace them so that they don’t mix up with local population.
The Union Territory of Ladakh reported 130 fresh COVID positive cases today—104 from Leh and 26 in Kargil.
With new cases, Corona count in Ladakh has reached 16582 including 1542 active positives and 14875 recovered. There were 165 COVID casualties in Ladakh—119 in Leh and 46 in Kargil.
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