Lab technician, travellers among 18 new positive cases in Kashmir

Srinagar: Kashmir recorded another Covid-19 death on Monday after an elderly man from Srinagar died at Chest Diseases Hospital. His death rose the total death tally in Jammu and Kashmir to 10.
The man hailing from Srinagar’s Alamgiri Bazar is father of youngest Covid-19 victim who died on May 7 after contracting the virus. The 32-year-old had contracted the disease while attending to his father in the Oncology department of Super Speciality Hospital, Shireen Bagh in Srinagar.
Dr Saleem Khan, nodal officer for Covid-19 at GMC Srinagar told Kashmir Reader that the deceased was suffering from pancreatic cancer and had other comorbidities. He died at the CD hospital on Monday afternoon, he added.
His death has taken the Covid-19 related death toll to 10 including four in Srinagar, three in Baramulla and one each in Bandipora, Anantnag and Udhampur.
Jammu and Kashmir, in the meantime, recorded 16 new coronavirus cases on Monday taking the total number of Covid-19 patients in the region to 877.
As per the health officials, among the new Covid-19 patients is a lab technician from Kulgam who tested positive for coronavirus at Chest Diseases Hospital on Monday.
Apart from the paramedic, nine Kulgam residents also tested positive for the novel Coronavirus. They had recently travelled from different parts and were screened in transit at Jammu during which their samples were taken for testing, they said.
Seven cases have been reported from Jammu division as well including three from Basoli, one each from Nagrota, Bathindi and Kathua.
Dr Khan said that 573 samples had been tested at the virology lab of CD Hospital today.
“Of these, only two samples tested positive including a lab technician from Kulgam and an elderly patient from Tangmarg who is presently admitted in the isolation ward of SMHS Hospital,” he said.
Dr Farooq A Jan, medical superintendent of SKIMS, said the Institute tested 1,249 samples. Of them, nine were found positive, all of them belonging to Kulgam district.
He said their samples were received from Jammu as they had recently travelled from outside J&K.

Manzoor ul-Hassan