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Kashmir to quarantine air passengers from Ladakh to keep tabs on Covid-19
Passengers of flights from Leh to Srinagar will now be quarantined for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Passengers coming from Ladakh to Srinagar will be have to undergo mandatory quarantine to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Srinagar’s Deputy Commissioner Shahid Choudhary said Wednesday.
Choudhary said that the government had taken decision to quarantine passengers in flights from coronavirus-affected areas.
“The flight had to land at Leh and then Srinagar. After 25 passengers of Leh de-boarded the flight, the others were communicated that since the aircraft had landed at Leh all passengers will have to go through quarantine for 14 days. Many thought that they will escape the process.’’
Once the flight landed in Srinagar, four passengers from Delhi were sent back to the national capital but 81 others were quarantined. “The rest of the passengers have to go through quarantine period of 14 days and will be released only after that,’’ he said.
Choudhary also advised fliers from Delhi to fly direct to Srinagar not via Leh to avoid being quarantined.
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Meanwhile, the Ladakh administration restricted the entry of foreign tourist by all routes till April 30. The entry of labourers into the union territory has been restricted till March 31.
Eight people in Ladakh and three in Jammu have tested positive for coronavirus. No one in Kashmir has yet tested positive. Of the 41 samples tested so far in Kashmir, 40 were negative and result of one report is awaited.
“We are waiting for the report of one sample and there is hope that too will turn negative,” AG Ahangar, Director, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) told reporters.
“People should be extra careful and they should not visit hospitals unless there is an emergency,” he said.
Ahangar also said people coming from the effected countries need to be quarantined and the patients who have been in the quarantine in SKIMS had travelled to different countries.
“The people who had been to the coronavirus-affected countries need to be quarantined even if they don’t show symptoms of the disease,” he said.
Officials at the SKIMS told Hindustan Times that all the tests conducted at the hospital were not from Kashmir region. “At least 19 samples were from Jammu also, but the good news is all tests have been negative.’’
