Agri official dies, scholar, 3 of family among 84 positive
35 more COVID cases in Ladakh
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 14: BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina today tested positive while his two party colleagues Avinash Rai Khanna, national vice president of the party and ‘Prabhari’ J&K and Ladakh and Vibodh Gupta reported negative for the COVID-19 after which Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh and BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, went into self quarantine in New Delhi as all of them had gone to Bandipora (Kashmir) residence of party leader Waseem Bari, who was killed by the militants.
Dr Jitendra Singh, Madhav, Khanna and Raina had gone to Kashmir on Sunday to meet family members of Bari and convey their condolences on his killing. While Khanna, Raina and Vibodh Gupta returned to Jammu in a flight on Sunday afternoon, Dr Jitendra and Madhav left for New Delhi.
Doctors said Khanna, Raina and Vibodh were tested for COVID-19 soon after they landed at Jammu Airport. Raina tested positive for the virus in the report released by Microbiology Department of the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu this afternoon. Khanna and Vibodh tested negative.
Soon after he reported positive for the virus, Raina told Excelsior that he and his senior party leaders did their duty by visiting residence of Bari to express condolences with the family on the killing of Bari, his brother and father by the militants.
“We did what was need of the hour. Our party colleague and his two family members had been killed by the militants. We were duty bound to visit their families,” Raina said, adding he was feeling cheerful and will be back to work within next few days.
Raina has been shifted to Narayana Hospital at Katra.
Raina also made public the news that he has tested positive for the virus through a tweet.
“I have tested positive for COVID-19. I had gone to Bandipora area of North Kashmir to take part in the last rites of slain BJP leader, his father and brother. I was there for the past five days,” he tweeted.
After Raina tested positive for the virus, Dr Jitendra Singh and Ram Madhav announced that they were going into self quarantine with immediate effect.
“Have gone into self-quarantine with immediate effect from 4 pm today, after receiving the news about #Corona positive test of J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina who had accompanied us from Srinagar to Bandipora on 12th July,” Dr Jitendra Singh said in a tweet.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, Incharge Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, also announced that he was going into self quarantine for few days.
“Am quarantining myself for a few days since my colleague n BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina tested positive for Corona today n I was with him 48 hours ago in Srinagar,” Madhav tweeted.
He further said that he had tested negative for Corona 4 times during travel in last 2 weeks but was yet taking precautions to ensure safety of himself and others. He also wished speedy recovery to Ravinder Raina.
At Bandipora, Raina had led the funeral procession along with party’s general secretary (Organisation) Ashok Kaul on July 11.
Raina said he along with other leaders had visited the area despite the threat given by terrorists not to take part in the funeral procession.
“I left for Bandipora soon after hearing the bad news. I was there for five days,” Raina said.
Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Bandipora, the BJP made it a point to be with the victim’s family, he said.
Meanwhile, a 47 years old Agriculture Department official hailing from Talab Tillo on outskirts of Jammu City who was admitted in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu on July 11 with acute respiratory distress syndrome and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, died this morning.
GMC Medical Superintendent Dr Dara Singh said the victim was symptomatic having high grade fever and cough and remained on oxygen since the time of admission. He was put on ventilator last evening but died this morning. His body was packed and cremated as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
With this, Corona casualties in Jammu region have gone up to 18 including 11 in Jammu district, two in Doda and one each in Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch, Samba and Udhampur districts.
Meanwhile, 84 persons including 13 CRPF personnel from Doda-Kishtwar, 6 CISF jawans from Police Training School (PTS) Kathua, three members of a family in Reasi, 18 labourers from Bihar, UP etc and a Research Scholar of IIIM Jammu tested positive for COVID-19 today in the Jammu region.
Eleven persons including six travelers and five locals today tested Corona positive in Jammu district.
They include 30-year-old Research Scholar from IIIM Jammu who belonged to Baramulla and had returned after visiting home. He is mild symptomatic and has been admitted to COVID hospital.
Other positives of Jammu district include 54-year-old man from Nagrota with travel history of Srinagar, 25-year-old youth from Bawa Talab, Akhnoor Road, whose father, a Pharmacist in Community Health Centre (CHC) Marh is already positive, and 41-year-old from Satwari. Rest of the positives in the district were travelers and under administrative quarantine.
District Magistrate Jammu Sushma Chauhan today declared Gole Panjpeer, Jaswant Plaza and adjoining areas, Camp Talab Tillo and Ward No. 32 under the jurisdiction of Domana police station as Containment/Red Zone after Corona positive cases were reported from there.
Twenty eight persons today tested positive for Coronavirus in Samba district.
Of them, 18 belonged to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Rajasthan, who were working in different parts of the Union Territory and had returned for work here. All of them were under administrative quarantine, SSP Samba Shakti Pathak said.
Other positives of the district include an Army jawan hailing from village Ratanpur, a 55-year-old from Sunderbani with travel history of Amritsar, 30-year-old from Bandipora Kashmir having returned from Kolkata and 45-year old man from Ward No. 7 Ramgarh, who had returned from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. Rest of the positives were also travelers and under quarantine, Pathak said.
In Doda district, 14 persons today tested Corona positive including eight CRPF personnel.
Of eight CRPF jawans, seven belonged to 33rd battalion and one to 192 battalion. Three other positives of the district were contacts of already positive persons and travelers including two women hailing from Gandoh and Kharangal. A 56-year-old man from Prem Nagar Doda tested positive during random sampling.
Five CRPF personnel tested positive for COVID in Kishtwar district.
Three members of a family including a 62-year-old man, his 52-year-old wife and 32-year-old daughter, residents of Ward No. 7 in Reasi today tested positive for the virus. They had returned after attending a marriage in South Kashmir. The fourth family member, however, tested negative.
Police have contained lanes leading to Ward No. 7 in Reasi.
Ten persons reported positive for COVID-19 in Kathua district today. They include six jawans of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) who were under quarantine at the Police Training School (PTS) Kathua. Three other positive were workers hailing from Billawar, Basohli and Uttar Pradesh who had returned and were under administrative quarantine.
Another person who tested positive in Kathua district belonged to village Basantpur in Lakhanpur and had been released from the quarantine after he tested negative. His second sample was taken as some inmates of the quarantine centre had reported positive. The man today reported positive during second sampling.
District Magistrate Kathua OP Bhagat said further contact tracing of the man is on and his family members have been isolated for sampling.
A woman from Batote in Ramban district who had undergone surgery in Doda tested positive today.
A traveler tested positive in Poonch district while Udhampur district didn’t report any Corona positive case today.
Meanwhile, 1025 persons crossed Lakhanpur today to enter Jammu and Kashmir.
Eleven persons have reported Corona positive in Rajouri district.
They include three each from Mohra and Manjakote and one each from Rajouri and Kalakote. A 25-year-old woman from Bhawani, Nowshera also tested positive for the virus.
An official of Sub District Hospital (SDH) Nowshera tested positive. His contacts are being isolated for sampling.
As per the official figures, Jammu region now has 2388 COVID cases including 816 active as 1554 patients have been treated for the virus and discharged from the hospitals. There have been 18 COVID casualties in the region.
Twenty eight Corona patients were today treated and discharged from the hospitals in Jammu region. They include six each in Jammu and Samba districts, five in Kathua, four in Rajouri, three in Udhampur and two each in Doda and Kishtwar districts.
Of 28, four persons were treated and discharged from the Chest Diseases Hospital, Bakshi Nagar, Medical Superintendent, Dr Rajeshwar Sharma said.
Meanwhile, 35 more COVID cases were today reported from the Union Territory of Ladakh, all in Leh district.
With this, total Corona cases in Ladakh have gone up to 1128 including 403 in Leh and 725 in Kargil while there were 181 active cases—151 in Leh and 30 in Kargil.
As many as 946 Corona patients have been treated and discharged in Ladakh, 251 in Leh and 695 in Kargil while there has been one Corona casualty.
Of total positives, 24 patients were admitted in COVID Hospitals, 150 were in home isolation and seven in COVID Care Centres.
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