Author: hamid

Srinagar, March 21 (GNS): A contact of covid-19 patient was admitted to SKIMS hospital on late Saturday evening and his sample has been taken, official said.

Professor Farooq Ahmad Jan, the medical superintendent of SKIMS, told GNS that the patient has been admitted to an isolation facility at the tertiary care hospital. “The sample of the person has been taken and sent for the test.” With this, three persons were admitted to SKIMS today. The two others have travel history to Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Two contacts of the positive patient, a 67-year-old woman from Khayam, Khanyar Srinagar who had returned from Saudi Arabi on March 16, have already tested negative. (GNS)

Source: The Siasat Daily

Saudi Arabia’s decision to suspend entry for Umrah pilgrimage amid coronavirus fears has stoked Muslims’ fears that the ban on the ritual will be in place longer than initially thought and may impact the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year, which usually brings about three million people to Makkah. This year the Hajj is expected to take place from July 28 to August 2.

Umrah Ban

In the last week of February, Saudi Arabia halted Umrah trips to the holy cities of Makkah and Madina due to the coronavirus scare. Despite the fact that Kingdom took a series of stringent precautionary measures to keep the COVID-19 at bay, Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 67 new cases of coronavirus taking the total number of infections in the Kingdom up to 238. The viral ailment has claimed hundreds of lives among thousands of infections around the world since December when it broke out in China, where the virus originated.

Though the Kingdom said the Umrah suspension is temporary and “subject to regular review”, Muslims are increasingly apprehensive about the prospect of doing Hajj and fear that the hajj pilgrimage would be impacted. According to reports, some Egyptian lawmakers have called for cancelling this year’s annual Hajj season, citing fears of a pandemic of the coronavirus

Travel agencies bear the brunt

The Saudi measure has thrown the business of many travel agencies into disarray. All the tourism companies organising the Umrah and Haj trips will suffer heavy losses. Many travel agencies in Muslim countries deal exclusively with pilgrims and are likely to take a major hit. After Saudi Arabia closed off travel to the holy city for Umrah, many potential travellers are concerned that Hajj could be affected too.

According to Tariq Ghazi, hundreds of Canadians who had made Hajj booking with tour operators with non-refundable deposit in thousands of dollars per person are cancelling their plans, while Haj-Umrah operators are facing bankruptcy. Who will pocket the deposited thousands is not clear though.

Meanwhile, an economic adviser in the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has said the country is in for recession that may continue until the last quarter of the year. So Canadians must turn to frugality and simple life, saying goodbye to luxuries they had been accustomed to.

An investor, on the other, hand said banks are likely to fail so people should find alternative ways to protect their savings. In India some banks have already failed with depositors losing their life’s saving.

Such warnings indicate that the current faulty economic system is going to crumble and make way for some new economic system to emerge from the debris. Who will author that new system is both unclear and obvious, depending on the vantage point you stand at to look at the global crisis.

Travel ban

Saudi Arabia has already extended its travel ban to include the European Union and 12 other countries, including India. Thus, the anguish of missing out on the annual pilgrimage is shared by Muslims worldwide. They are very much disappointed as some languish for years on waiting lists to take part in the larger Haj pilgrimage.

Cancellation of journey

Even if the pilgrimage is not cancelled by the Kingdom, the Coronavirus fear could force millions of Muslims around the world to postpone or cancel a journey that many have eagerly awaited for years. The Hajj is one of Islam’s five pillars. Muslims are expected to perform it at least once in their lives if they can afford it and are physically able. Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has also asked applicants to submit refund forms if they have changed their plan amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

HCI releases Hajj schedule

Even as the uncertainty looms over Hajj pilgrimage, Hajj Committee of India has released the schedule for the Hajj pilgrims for the season of 2020. According to this schedule, the pilgrims will start leaving from 9th July and their return journey will start on 13th August.

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar, Mar 21 (KNO): The English saying — an ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure — means a little precaution before crisis hits is better than a lot of firefighting afterwards. Whilst the West may have forgotten its own wise words, farther in the East in a miniscule city of Srinagar, long before the deadly Covid-19 set the alarm bells ringing, mindful preventive measures were being taken.

According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), assessing the seriousness of the situation with agility of mind, the deputy commissioner Srinagar Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary made a plan of action to prevent and control the spread of this pandemic. He conducted several meetings to discuss the response mechanism required to be activated to prevent the spread of CoVID-19. DC directed immediate district wide awareness campaigns at both district and zonal levels about coronavirus to control its spread.

Not a day goes by without him holding a meeting, creating rapid response teams, reviewing hospital preparedness in terms of isolation wards and ventilator management. He also directed for identifying gaps in the execution of the plans as well as in the laboratory supports required to identify suspected cases and then to control its spread.

Like a needle and thread at work to close the gap between two patches of the same cloth, this pandemic has brought the valley an equilibrium of opinions even if it’s for a short while.

Working parallel to DC Srinagar, the Mayor of Srinagar city, Junaid Azim Mattu worked to protect the city from the swampy tentacles of the deadly Covid-19 and took some harsh measures, amidst heavy criticism. Mattu, was first to advice the closure of schools and other educational institutions as a necessary measure to fight this pandemic. He didn’t stop there. He further went to SMHS, donning the CoVID-19 dress by WHO to assess beforehand the preparedness.

Soon after the first confirmed case of CoVID-19 in the Khanyar area of Srinagar, Mayor Srinagar proclaimed that even before the first ray of sun is out a joint team of SMC and Revenue department (District Administration) will conduct a survey of 300m radius from the house of the positive case, which will be important for quarantine. Moreover, an intensive inch by inch sanitisation with specialized chemical spraying was done in entire neighbourhood where the positive case of CoVID-19 was detected.

He regularly chairs meetings about further actions like carrying sterilisation drives on roads and public transport. Only yesterday he personally visited LT. Governor and requested the restoration of 4g services in U.T for mass awareness campaigns. Working round the clock these two men along with so many others are trying to protect the rest of us. Keeping in mind their valour and efforts lets cooperate and do what’s best for not only us but our fellow citizens—(KNO)

Turning to WhatsApp, the most popular app in the country, to create awareness about the coronavirus pandemic and has urged social media services to tackle spread of misinformation on their platforms.

An individual is required to send a WhatsApp message “Join” on +919013151515 (or click on this shortcut link) to connect to the bot.

“The ‘MyGov Corona Helpdesk’ has been engineered to fight rumors, educate the masses and bring a sense of calm to the current chaos-like situation. We are committed to assisting the government with all our possible strengths and resources and hope that this chatbot can help the GoI spread the right information across the nation,” Aakrit Vaish, co-founder and chief executive of Haptik, told TechCrunch.

Umaisar Gull Ganie

Srinagar, Mar 21 (KNO): In order to prevent the spread of novel Coronavirus through cash, experts in DHSK suggest the government to examine the possibility of using polymer currency notes, instead of paper currency notes, on the lines of countries like Australia, UK and Canada.

According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), experts say that the virus can spread through currency notes. Hence, it is better to switch to digital mode of transactions. But then, complete avoidance of cash in Kashmir is probably not possible. Hence, there is a need for a safer alternative to paper currency notes.

Nodal Officer for Covid-19 Control, South Kashmir, Dr. Aashiq Hussain told—KNO “Several diseases, including urinary and respiratory tract infections, skin infections and recurrent meningitis, are being transmitted through currency notes. They can also contribute to causing septicemia and toxic shock syndrome,” he said.

He further said “As coronavirus is an infectious disease which may spread by close contact of any person infected with such virus. Evidences suggest that currency notes are a source of infection and dangerous to health, more so because many of the pathogens on them are multi-drug resistant strains.”—(KNO)

3 SKIMS Doctors Discharged, Hospital Cancels Holidays; 3611 Persons Under Surveillance In J&K

Nadeem Nadu

Srinagar, March 20 (GNS): Nine more persons on Saturday tested negative for coronavirus in Kashmir Valley even as over 3600 people have been enlisted for surveillance in entire Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

They said two more persons with symptoms-like coronavirus were admitted to SKIMS hospital and their samples have been sent for tests to confirm or rule-out the pathogen. In a related development, SKIMS also announced cancellation of holidays.

Nodal officer for coronavirus control at SKIMS, Dr G H Yatoo, told GNS that test reports of three persons was awaited.

Dr Yatoo, who is also HoD hospital administration of SKIMS, informed that two persons, with travel history to Saudi Arabia and Thailand, were admitted today at the isolation facility set up at the tertiary care hospital.

Professor Farooq Ahmad Jan, the medical superintendent of SKIMS, told GNS that three doctors, two of whom had come in contact with only covid-19 patient, have been discharged after their samples came out to be negative. “They have been sent to home quarantine. One more doctor who had travel history to Amritsar was also discharged as he did fit in criteria,” he said. Meanwhile, according to a notification by Director SKIMS, all holidays have been cancelled including on Sundays.

Meanwhile HOD CD Hospital Srinagar Dr. Naveed Nazir Shah told GNS that one more person with symptoms like coronoavirus was admitted to the isolation facility set up at the hospital.

He said nine samples were tested and all of them came to be negative.

So far, only one person has tested positive for the coronavirus in Kashmir Valley. The number of such patients in Jammu is three.

Meanwhile the Government informed that 3611 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for observation.

According to the daily media bulletin on novel coronavirus (COVID-19) 2557 persons have been kept under home quarantine while as 50 are in hospital quarantine.

Persons who are under home surveillance stand at 584 while as 420 persons have completed their 28-day surveillance period.

It said that 213 samples have been sent for testing of which 205 tested as negative and only four cases have tested positive, so far while as four reports are awaited.

Meanwhile, a 24×7 toll free national helpline number 1075 has been activated for support, guidance, and response to health related queries on novel coronavirus disease. The government of Jammu and Kashmir has also set up helpline numbers in this regard: 0191-2549676(UT level Cell for J&K), 0191-2520982(Jammu Division),0194-2440283 and 0194-2430581(Kashmir Division).

The government has appealed that any person with travel history to COVID-19 affected countries or person in contact with such a traveller, whether they are having symptoms or not, must remain in 14 days home quarantine. If any person feels unwell having cough, fever or difficulty in breathing that person should avoid exposure to others and seek medical care at the earliest.

The Government has also urged the general public to maintain social distancing as it is the key to stop and prevent the spread of Covid-19 from those who are infected.

“The intervention includes remaining out of crowded settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible,” the Government advisory said.

Further, the Government has appealed people to not panic and take care of health and protect others.

“Public in general is advised to avoid un-necessary travel and use of public transport. Avoid un-necessary travel and use of public transport; avoid crowded places and large gatherings, do not spit in public. People must take basic precautions for personal hygiene; frequent handwashing with soap and observing coughing and sneezing etiquettes,” the Government advisory added. (GNS)