15 people who returned to Uttarakhand from other states test Covid-19 positive

According to government officials, till Friday evening, over 2.12 lakh registrations had been made on the state website for return to Uttarakhand.

Updated on: May 15, 2020, 21:13:48 IST

Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Neeraj Santoshi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Fifteen people who have returned to Uttarakhand from other states during the ongoing evacuation process have turned Covid-19 positive in the state.

According to government officials, till Friday evening, over 2.12 lakh registrations had been made on the state website for return to Uttarakhand.

Of these, the state government under its evacuation process has so far brought back 82, 834 people through trains and buses. Over 6000 people have returned to the state in their own vehicles.

In case of people from other states stranded in Uttarakhand, 33,990 have registered with the government for return to their respective states. Of these, 16,229 have been sent to their respective states.

On Friday two persons person tested positive for Covid-19, one in Dehradun and other in Pauri Garhwal, taking the tally of total cases to 80 in Uttarakhand. Of 80 cases, 50 people have recovered so far, leaving 29 active cases in the state.

With the fresh case, Dehradun now has a total of 40 cases and 11 active cases. With the latest case, the doubling rate in the past seven days in Dehradun district has reduced to 29.86 from 167.38 days on Tuesday.

JC Pandey, public relations officer (PRO) state health department said 29 year old man from Dehradun tested positive at the testing lab in All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh.

“This man had come with his mother from Delhi. His mother had tested COVID-19 positive on May 13”, he said.

Pandey said another 25 year old man from Pauri Garhwal tested positive at AIIMS Rishikesh. He said the man had returned from Gurugram Haryana.

Of 80 cases in the state so far, Dehradun has reported the maximum 40 Covid-19 positive cases followed by 16 in US Nagar, 12 in Nainital, 7 in Haridwar, 2 from Almora, 2 from Pauri Garhwal and one from Uttar Kashi

Uttarakhand has nine containment zones including five in Dehradun followed by two in Haridwar and one each in Nainital and US Nagar.

Authorities in Uttarakhand are worried over many people returning to the state testing positive for Covid-19. Last week, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had even acknowledged that the state was faced up with a big challenge because many of those returning to the state are likely to be infected.

“The state is expecting at least 2-2.25 lakh migrants to return of which about 25,000 are expected to be infected,” the chief minister had said during a Facebook live session.

On May 13, even Uttarakhand high court, while expressing concern over many migrants returning to the state testing Covid-19 positive, had sought reply from the state and Central government on whether each person returning to the state was also being medically examined as ‘thermal screening is not enough’ and whether antigen tests, or any other rapid tests, could be performed on people returning to the state.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.