COVID-19: 3rd death in J&K, cases mount to 125 10 more infected in Valley, tally 98; Victim had no travel history

4 more areas prohibited, UT total rise to 63

SRINAGAR: A 52-year-old man became the third victim of coronavirus in Kashmir Valley, even as nine other persons tested positive for deadly virus on Tuesday, taken the total cases in the region to 98, 94 of them active.
The total number of cases in the Union Territory now stands at 125, including 27 in Jammu region, even as the authorities declared four more areas as red zones, taking the number to 63 across the UT.
“125 cases in all now; 118 active cases; 24 in Jammu Division, 94 in Kashmir. 6 new cases in Jammu division today, 9 in Kashmir. Aggressive contact tracing; red zones to continue”, Government Spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted.
As per the reports available, a 52-year-old patient from Gund Jahangir, Hajin, Bandipora was admitted to SMHS hospital on Monday after developing Coronavirus symptoms.
A senior health official at SMHS said that the patient breathed last yesterday night and his reports came out positive for coronavirus this morning, making it the third death due to deadly virus.
All the three deaths have taken place in Kashmir Valley. A 65-year-old man from Srinagar was the first fatality in Kashmir on March 26 followed by another man of same age from Tangmarg in Baramulla district who died on March 29.
The family member claimed that the deceased was diabetic and had hypertension and had gone to the hospital for a check-up. However, he was admitted in the ward and was kept inside the ward which was meant for Coronavirus patients.
The deceased patient who had no travel history and was an orchardist, was buried as per the guidelines of MHA in his hometown late Tuesday evening with just 6 people allowed to offer the last rituals.
Other than the deceased, nine more persons from Kashmir division tested positive for Coronavirus on Tuesday.
Four of them are reported in Srinagar, three in Baramulla and two from Bandipora.
“Three of the persons are residents of Lal Bazar, and include 9-year-old and 11-year-old daughters and a nephew of a COVID-19 patient who had returned recently from Kolkata with his test coming positive on March 17. All the three patients were under quarantine at Zakura facility and have now been moved to CD hospital,” sources informed.
The fourth patient from Srinagar is a 25-year-old woman from Eidgah, who had come in contact with the previous patients from the area.
Three patients from Baramulla included a 70-year-old woman whose husband tested positive for the disease last week, a 35-year-old man from Tangmarg, and a 51-year-old female from Sopore, both of them contacts of previous patients.
Besides the deceased, two more persons tested positive in Bandipora, including a 58-year-old man who had returned home from Maharashtra recently, and a 23-year-old man with no travel history. Both of them were admitted to SKIMS yesterday.
With this, the total number of positive cases in Kashmir Valley has gone up to 98, 94 of them active as one of them has recovered while three have died.
A district-wise break up shows that maximum 34 cases of the total 98 are reported from Srinagar, followed by Bandipora with 20 cases, Baramulla 17, Budgam 10, Shopian 7, Kupwara 6, Pulwama 3 and Ganderbal 1.
Aggressive contact tracing of the new cases has been started while some new areas have been declared red zones in Valley.
Authorities in Srinagar declared two areas of the city -- Eidgah and Lal Bazar -- as containment zones and sealed them to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection after several positive cases were detected.
"All entry and exit points of Eidgah and Lal Bazar areas of Srinagar were Tuesday sealed. The sealing of the areas comes in the wake of their declaration as containment zones after several cases of COVID-19 affected persons were reported from there," an official spokesman said.
In Bandipora, two more villages were declared as red zones and their surrounding villages as buffer zones to prevent the spread of corona virus after two persons from these villages were declared COVID positive in past two days.
The villages include Gund-Jehangeer and Naidkhai.
Earlier this week, six villages including Konan, GundQaiser, Gund-Dachina, Hakbara, Madwan and Pethkote were declared red zones in the district.
With this, the total number of 'red zones' across the across the UT has rose to 63—24 in Jammu region and 39 in Kashmir Valley.
While 13 areas have been declared red zones in Bandipora, eight areas are prohibited in Srinagar, seven in Pulwama, four in Budgam, three in Baramulla, and two each in Shopian and Ganderbal districts.