Blog

SRINAGAR: Four COVID19 Positive patients who were undergoing treatment at Sher-i-Kashmir institute of medical sciences “SKIMS” Soura Srinagar were discharged on Saturday.

Dr Ghulam Hassan Yatoo Nodal Officer SKIMS Confirmed to Asiannewshub that four CoronaVirus positive patients were discharged on Saturday after testing negative multiple times for deadly novel Coronavirus.

The patients while leaving for their homes praised and thanked the doctors and nurses for taking care of them.

Meanwhile, Nodal Officer from SKIMS said that the three patients discharged belonged to Srinagar and other from Budgam district.(ANH)

Kulgam, Apr 18: A purported video has gone viral in which a family from South Kashmir’s Kulgam district makes a fervent appeal to its ‘militant’ son to return home for the sake of his elderly parents.

In the video family members are requesting militants to send their doctor son back to home. However, it is not clear whether the youth in question has joined militant ranks or not.

Family sources told KNT that Raja Nadeem, who has a Bachelors in veterinary sciences, and is a doctor has gone missing last week. Despite searching for him, he was untraceable. “The family has a reason to believe that he has joined the militant ranks as they have received information from different quarters that Raja Nadeem has joined a militant outfit.”

Family has also approached police station and lodged a missing report about his son. “We are shocked because Nadeem never made us believe that he was inclined towards militancy. He assisted his family and spent most of the time at home,” said the family members.
“Our family is shattered.

We appeal to him, wherever he is to come back home. Do not leave us like this,” the family appealed. (KNT)

Srinagar: Indian Home Minister Amit Shah who was virtually in hibernation after the outbreak of Coronavirus Saturday rung Jammu Kashmir Police Chief and lauded the role of police in enforcing lockdown in letter and spirit.
  
  Indian opposition parties have criticized Amit Shah for his deafening silence over the issues relating to lockdown, migrant labourers and Covid-19.

 A police spokesperson told KNT that Amit Shah called police Chief Dilbagh Singh over phone and conveyed his deep appreciation for effective lockdown and excellent services rendered by all ranks of Jammu Kashmir Police.
  
  “The Home Minister in a telephonic message to Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh also coveyed his compliments for good management in maintaining law and order in Jammu and Kashmir. (KNT)  

New York, the financial capital of the world, has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic. More than 14,000 people have died in the city and over 2 lakh people have tested positive so far. Neighbouring New Jersey has more than 78,000 cases and 3,800 deaths.

PTI

The number of the coronavirus cases in the US crossed 7,00,000 on Friday, while over 35,000 people have died from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University, as President Donald Trump assured his people that America was “very close” to seeing the light “shinning brightly” at the end of the tunnel.

New York, the financial capital of the world, has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic. More than 14,000 people have died in the city and over 2,00,000 people have tested positive so far. Neighbouring New Jersey has more than 78,000 cases and 3,800 deaths.

President Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that to date the U.S. had conducted more than 3.78 million coronavirus tests, by far the most in any country.

“It’s not even close. In the hardest-hit areas such as New York and Louisiana we have also tested more people per capita than South Korea, Singapore, and every other country. The United States has the most robust, advanced and accurate testing system anywhere in the world,” he said.

Mr. Trump said that the number of deaths could have been much higher if his administration had not mounted a massive effort against containing the coronavirus. Against initial estimated death of between one and two lakhs, Mr. Trump hoped that the death toll could be far less and around 65,000.

“It’s a horrible thing that happened to our country. This is a horrible thing that happened to 184 countries all over the world. It was a horrible thing and there was no reason for it. That should never, ever happen again,” Mr. Trump said.

Ultimate victory in this war will be made possible by America’s scientific brilliance, Mr. Trump asserted.

“There is nothing like us, there is nobody like us, not even close. I wish I could tell you stories what other countries, even powerful countries say to me, the leaders. They say it quietly and they say off the record, but they have great respect for what we can do,” he said.

The last few months have been among the most challenging times in the history of the nation, Mr. Trump said.

“This invisible enemy is tough and it’s smart and it’s a vicious that every day we are getting closer to the future that we all have been waiting for,” he said.

“I talk about the light at the end of the tunnel. We are getting very, very close to seeing that light shine very brightly at the end of that tunnel and it is happening,” he said.

According to Vice President Mike Pence, despite the tragic loss of more than 36,000 Americans, the latest data show that the new cases are slow and steady on the West Coast.

“We continue to see cases and hospitalisations declining in the new greater New York City area, in New Orleans and Detroit and elsewhere,” he said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, 1,54,142 people have died and 22,42,868 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus that originated in China in November last year.

Over 35,000 people have died in the U.S. and the country has 7,01,131 infections, the highest in the world.

Users will receive incoming calls says Jio; Airtel and Vodafone extends benefit to about 120 mn low income customers till the end of the lockdown

PTI

Three private operators — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea — on Friday announced extension of validity of packs for certain users. While Jio said that its users will receive incoming calls, Airtel and Vodafone extended the benefit to about 120 million low income customers till the end of the lockdown on May 3.

“This will not only benefit low-income users but also benefit everyone who is unable to do a recharge during these challenging times,” Reliance Jio said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel, which had earlier announced an extension of validity along with additional ₹10 talktime for about 80 million customers representing all under-privileged customers on its Network, on Friday said many of these users have been able to recharge through several channels activated by Airtel.

“However, close to 30 million such customers have still not been able to recharge their pre-paid mobile accounts. Keeping in mind their connectivity needs, Airtel is extending the validity of these accounts till May 3, 2020. All these customers will now be able to receive incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers even after the validity of their plan is exhausted,” it said.

‘Connectivity at troubled times’

Likewise, Vodafone Idea in a statement said that to ensure that “low income, prepaid customers using feature phones” remain connected amidst these troubled times, it is extending incoming services for these users till May 3, 2020.

“This free of cost extension of incoming service validity will enable millions of feature phone users of both Vodafone and Idea to continue to receive incoming calls, even if the validity of their plan expires earlier,” it explained.

Avneesh Khosla, Marketing Director, Vodafone Idea said, In order to ensure that consumers stay connected during this extended lock down, we are extending the incoming service validity of 90 mn consumers till May 3rd. This would effectively mean that these consumers can use their phones for receiving incoming calls unhindered.”

Srinagar: Dismissing the allegations of the poor not having food, the UT Government declared on Friday that “no one is sleeping hungry in J&K”.

Farooq Khan, Adviser to the L-G, said, “There is not even a single person in J&K going to bed without food.” He was responding to the charges that many people across J&K were not having foodgrains to survive, and many were suffering from hunger.

These charges have been levelled by slum-dwellers and unorganised sector workers. They alleged that they were not in a position to survive as they were not having ration to feed their families. These charges are more audible in the suburban and rural areas where the NGOs have not been able to reach so far.

The government claimed that it had given two months’ advance ration to the ration card holders and also taken care of the construction workers and others who did not figure in the government records.

‘Need to see how virus behaves after lockdown’

Srinagar: Doctor Pervez Koul, head of Pulmonary and internal medicine at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, on Friday said that battle against the Covid-19 is going to be a long haul and it is to be seen how Coronavirus behaves after lockdown.

“So far Kashmir has been able to contain the deadly novel Coronavirus and lockdown has played a great role to prevent the spread of the disease, but real situation would be clear once the lockdown is over,”Dr Koul told news agency KINS.

Koul said that wearing mask is very important at this juncture. “There is a unanimous consensus that everybody should wear a mask. A person will be benefited for sure, if he or she wears a mask,” he said.

He said that a commoner should not get perturbed or be forced to buy masks worth RS 20 every day.

“Anybody can wear a mask and re-use it after washing it properly with soap or a detergent and then air-dry the same. If a person has five masks, after five days, he or she can re-use them after proper wash,” he said.

“Health experts, doctors and even para-medics too have been given five N-95 masks and directions for use are same which is to re-use the one after every five days after washing it properly.”

Asked about in which stage of Covid-19 Kashmir had entered at present, Dr Koul, who is an expert in pulmonary medicine, Rheumatology, and infectious diseases, said that so far Kashmir has been able to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“And that’s because of the lockdown. It’s a country wide lockdown and so far we have been able to contain the spread of the virus. But once the lockdown would end, we will get the real picture of the virus. We will have to closely watch the dynamics of the virus as to which way it will go once the lockdown is over,” Dr Koul said.
To a query, if things would be normal after May 3, he said that the fight against Covid-19 is not so easy. “May God prove me wrong, but we are preparing for a long haul. It is not going to end tomorrow,” he said.

On whether there is any evidence of community transmission in Kashmir, Dr Koul said that there have been some cases who don’t have travel history or have either forgotten whether they had got in touch with some contacts of Covid- positive cases. “This signifies there is a community transmission, but it is not that gory yet. As I stated, we need to see which way virus would behave after lockdown, we would also be able to judge whether there is a community transmission,” he said.

He, however, said that the health care officials were more vulnerable to getting exposed to the virus. “I have seen many doctors have died after catching the virus across the globe. Even in United States, there is a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). They are getting it from wherever it is possible and yet there is a shortage. In Kashmir, we too have limited PPEs, but there is a global shortage and we can’t complain about it,” he said. (KINS)

Authorities flummoxed how he managed to reach Srinagar from red zone of Jammu

---

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police has registered First Information report (FIR) against Kashmir Valley’s top businessman Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya for defying prohibitory orders imposed by the government to prevent spread of deadly coronavirus.

Highly placed sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that J&K police has registered FIR against Chaya for defying restrictions imposed in Bathindi which has been declared as red zone by the authorities.

“An FIR number 109 has been registered under section 188 Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of Epidemics Diseases Act against Chaya for defying restrictions,” the sources disclosed, adding that Chaya managed to reach his Zakura residence after violating the prohibitory orders.

According to sources, after the matter came into knowledge of Jammu police, they alerted higher-ups in J&K police as well as civil administration and police in Kashmir.

Sources disclosed that police and government are flummoxed over how he managed to reach Srinagar despite lockdown being imposed in J&K as part of the nationwide shutdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to control spread of the COVID-19.

“ As intimated by Station House Officer Police Station Trikuta Nagar vide his signal dated 17.4.2020 that one person namely Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya who was staying at Farooq Abdullah enclave Bathindi Jammu has deliberately left for Srinagar along with other persons from red zone Srinagar,” reads a document in possession of KNO.

The Jammu Police has requested authorities in Kashmir Valley to send a team of medical doctors to his residence for immediate screening –(KNO)

SHOPIAN, April 17 : Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir on Friday, taking the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 333.

An official told ANH that five more persons from Heerpora area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district have been tested positive for CoronaVirus having contact history with COVID19 patients, earlier in the day 52 year old lady and two youths had tested positive for deadly novel #coronavirus.

With the surge in the new cases, the total tally of infected persons in the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from novel CoronaVirus reached 333, morethan 30 patients have been discharged after recovering from deadly infection.

It is pertinent to mention that 05 people have died from CoronaVirus, On 17th April( Today) an elderly man from Sopore died at GMC Bemina Srinagar, On 8th April, a 61 year old lady from Udhampur died at GMC Jammu. On 7 April, a 54 year old man from Bandipora died at SMHS Srinagar.

On 29 March, a 50 year old man from form Tangmarg area died at CD hospital. On 25th March, a 65 year old Tableegi preacher from Hyderpora died at CD hospital.(ANH)