COVID-19: Ladakh reports 3 new cases, includes 2 Iran-returned Kargil residents

Three fresh COVID-19 positive cases were reported from Kargil district of Ladakh on Saturday, taking the total number of active positive cases in the Union Territory (UT) to four.

“Two Iran-returned (Residents of Kargil) under Institutional Quarantine at #Kargil has tested #COVID19 Positive. One Student who returned from Jammu (Resident of Kargil) tested #covid19 Positive (sic)” Commissioner Secretary Health, Ladakh, Rigzin Samphel, tweeted. He said all the patients, who were under institutional quarantine, have been shifted to an isolation facility.

READ | J&K Govt Issues Quarantine Protocol As Flight Services All Set To Resume

Coronavirus status in Ladakh

Kargil district of Ladakh UT was declared COVID-19 free on May 15 after the last two patients, including a two-year-old boy, were declared recovered and subsequently discharged. Similarly, neighbouring Leh district had become COVID-19 free as 19 more positive patients were discharged from a hospital in Leh district on May 19.

Ladakh has so far recorded a total of 47 positive cases with 43 among them have recovered. The UT, which has a population of 2.74 lakh (2011 census), was one of the first few regions in the country to report a coronavirus positive case. The first two positive cases in the UT were reported on March 7 with both the patients having travel history to Iran.

READ | Jammu And Kashmir Admin To Notify 10,000 Posts For Accelerated Recruitment Of Domiciles

New COVID death

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old woman from Urnhal area of south Kashmir, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died at the SKIMS Soura on Saturday, taking the overall death toll due to the infection in Jammu and Kashmir to 21. Medical Superintendent SKIMS Soura, Professor Farooq Jan said that the woman was admitted to the hospital’s isolation facility and had underlying ailments including chest infection.

“She had tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier and died today,” he said. With her death, the toll due to the coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 21—19 from Kashmir and 2 from Jammu.

READ | Jammu And Kashmir Administration To Sent Returnees Into 14-day Institutional Quarantine

READ | Mercury Shows Upward Trend In Jammu, City Records High Of 41.5 Deg C On Friday