Village in Kashmir Quarantined After 30 Test Positive for COVID-19

The remote village in Kashmir’s Bandipora has around 400 people.

An officer checks the quality as Jammu and Kashmir police personnel make face masks amid COVID-19 outbreak in Jammu. (Image for representation)

(Photo: AP)

A remote village with a population of around 400 in Kashmir’s Bandipora district has emerged as the largest coronavirus hotspot in the Union Territory. The entire Danger Mohalla hamlet has been quarantined on Tuesday, 21 April, after 30 people tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report by NDTV.

Officials said that as of now 30 people have contracted the virus and tests are underway for the rest of the village.

Authorities also anticipate that the virus spread to other people from a man whose results came positive after his death. He had come in contact with a number of people, including 11 from his own family. All the members have contracted the virus.

“His was the first death to be reported from the village. Since he did not have any travel or contact history, nobody suspected he could be a COVID-19 patient”, said Shahnawaz Bukhari, Officer on Special Duty in the area, adding that many people, including his extended family and neighbours visited him because he was unwell.

Security forces have sealed the area and sanitation workers are fumigating the streets and houses and taking all necessary precautions. Even four neighbouring hamlets of Danger Mohalla have been declared as red zones.

Doctors said that they are conducting rapid tests to gauge the magnitude of the spread. “We tested 30 samples on Tuesday, 21 April, and we are expecting to test 60 more today and 150 samples the day after. In total, around 200 tests will be conducted,” said Dr Masarat, a medical officer.

Bandipora now has 91 COVID-19 cases, the highest in J&K followed by Srinagar district at 79 cases.

(With inputs from NDTV)