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  • No fresh case reported in Kashmir, first Covid case in Sgr was properly screened at airport: Govt

    She showed no symptoms but was still home quarantined, trying to get in touch with all who contacted her, says Dir NHM

    Srinagar, March 19: Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday said that the first Covid-19 case from Srinagar was properly screened at the airport but she showed no symptoms but was still home quarantined. The government said since she had a travel history, her samples were taken the report of which was positive.
    Talking exclusively to Kashmir Indepth, Director of National Health Mission J&K Bhupinder Kumar said that there is no truth in reports that the first Coronavirus case wasn’t screened at the airport after she returned from Umrah. “She was screened but she showed no symptoms at that point in time. She was still advised to remain in-home quarantine. Her samples were taken since she had a travel history of Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, here report was found positive. Her samples were tested in Pune and J&K laboratories at the same time,” he said.
    Kumar said that the government is getting in touch with all those who contacted the lady that includes some of her relatives. Asked whether there was any more positive case of Covid-19 in Kashmir, he said: “As of now, there is no fresh positive case in Kashmir,” he said.(KINS)
  • Suspected coronavirus patient jumps off 7th floor of Safdarjung Hospital, dies

    Source: GK News Network

    A man suspected to be infected with COVID-19 allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of the Safdarjung Hospital here on Wednesday, soon after he was admitted there by the airport authorities, police said.

    While police said he was aged 35, a Health Ministry statement said the man 23-year-old.

    The man was brought by the airport authorities and was immediately put in the isolation ward, hospital sources said, adding that his samples had already been taken for testing.

    The sources said the man forced open the isolation ward and jumped off the building.

    According to the Health Ministry, man was living in Australia’s Sydney for the past one year and arrived at the Delhi airport on Wednesday.

    On reaching the airport, he mentioned headache as the chief complaint in his self-reporting form.

    He was referred to the Safdarjung Hospital where he reached around 9 pm, the ministry said, adding that he was taken to the seventh floor of the hospital for evaluation.

    When doctors reached there, he wasn’t found there.

    Meanwhile, another doctor coming out of the building at the ground floor observed a body lying on the floor at 9.15 pm, the statement said.

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

  • How do we prevent Coronavirus?

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  • Coronavirus scare: In Kolkata, ‘Gaumutra’ lands cop in hospital; local BJP organiser behind bars

    Source: Times of India

    KOLKATA: A 34-year-old home guard, who had his first sip of cow urine in a north Kolkata neighbourhood on Monday, was admitted to hospital on Tuesday after he complained of vomiting and nausea. But Pintu Pramanik did not let that come in the way of his duty. He filed a complaint from his hospital bed against the BJP functionary who “induced” him to drink the gaumutra — as “prasad and preventive medicine” against Covid-19 — following which cops arrested Narayan Chatterjee on Tuesday.
    The hospitalisation and the arrest capped a bizarre chain of events that played itself out over 22 hours in a neighbourhood a few kilometres northwest of College Street, the cradle of Bengal Renaissance that stamped out social evils like widow-burning from nineteenth-century Calcutta and Bengal.

    TOI on Monday reported how Chatterjee, a local BJP member known for his ability to get in TV camera frames, organised a “gaumata” worship programme at an illegal cow shelter near the Nimtala crematorium on the eastern bank of the Hooghly. He then made several bystanders drink cow urine as “protection against the novel coronavirus (nCoV)”; one of them happened to be Pramanik.
    TOI has a video where Chatterjee is heard explaining to Pramanik that there was no medicine for nCoV but cow urine could “cure the infection 100%”. Pramanik’s complaint left out most of these details, only mentioning that “unknown persons” had made him drink the cow urine after telling him that it was “charanamrita” (holy water) and that he took ill a few hours after drinking it.

    “The incident happened around 2.20 p.m. on Monday when Pramanik was performing traffic duty at the BK Pal Avenue-Nimtala Ghat Street crossing,” a senior Kolkata Police official said. Pramanik’s colleagues said he felt sick and nauseous and vomited twice on Monday evening and so had to be taken to hospital on Tuesday morning; he was “released after treatment” on Tuesday evening.
    Cops slapped BJP leader Chatterjee with Sections 269 (“negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life”), 278 (“making the atmosphere noxious to health”) and 114 (“abetment to an offence”) of the Indian Penal Code. Chatterjee can get a prison term of six months if convicted.

    TOI visited the khatal (cow shelter) on Baishnab Seth Street on Tuesday and met multiple persons — from milkmen and cabbies to local residents — who drank the urine but said they were doing “fine”. “I was sitting at my shop when Chatterjee and his supporters came and asked me to me drink the gomutra. I had not tasted it before but still agreed because a political leader asked me,” paan shop owner Pradeep Chaurasia said.
    A taxi driver, who refused to be named, said he was waiting at the crossing when the BJP leader came up to him with the bottle of gomutra. “There were so many persons with him… I could not refuse. But it tasted strange,” he said.

    Ganesh Rai, owner of two of the five cows at the shelter, said he had been working at the same cattle shed for 25 years but had never tasted cow urine before Monday. “It tasted like pepper mixed in water,” he said, making a face.
    Suraj Yadav, another elderly milkman who was photographed being fed cow urine from a bottle, said he drank out of fear. “He is a known face here and a powerful man. He came with a lot of people on Monday and did a puja and then made us drink the gomutra he had brought in a bottle,” Yadav said.
    TOI tried to trace Chatterjee but calls went unanswered on his cellphone. A neighbour said cops had taken him away for questioning.
    “Chatterjee is one of our karyakartas who worked for us in KMC Ward 20 in the 2015 civic polls. But whatever he did on Monday was not an official party programme,” BJP state general secretary Sayantan Ghosh said.

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

  • ‘Gaumutra’, ‘gobar’ may cure coronavirus: BJP MLA tells Assam assembly

    Source: Economic Times

    Guwahati: As the world fumbles for a cure to the deadly novel coronavirus which has claimed thousands of lives across the world, a BJP legislator in Assam on Monday left the state assembly astounded by saying that the remedy may be ‘gaumutra’ (cow urine) and ‘gobar’ (cow dung). Suman Haripriya claimed that cow urine and cow dung are helpful in curing deadly diseases like cancer.

    “We all know that cow dung is very helpful. Likewise, when cow urine is sprayed, it purifies an area… I believe something similar could be done with ‘gaumutra’ and ‘gobar’ to cure coronavirus (disease),” she said during a discussion on smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh during Special Mention on the first day of the budget session of the assembly.

    Cow is considered a holy animal in India and the use of cow urine for therapeutic purposes has a long history in Indian culture. Cow dung has been traditionally used for various purposes, including in Hindu religious rituals, medicines, manure and even fuel.

    Haripriya also claimed that the economy of Bangladesh has strengthened on the back of smuggled cows from India, primarily Assam.

    “Bangladesh is the second largest beef exporter in the world. All these cows are our cows. Earlier the Congress government did nothing to stop smuggling of cows,” she said.

    “Nowadays, river route is mostly used to smuggle cows,” the BJP MLA said and urged the BJP-led government in Assam to monitor the cattle markets in the state as she said “illegal trading is being carried out by them with most of their receipts being fake”.

    Meanwhile, the Union health ministry on Monday said two more positive cases of coronavirus– one in Delhi and another in Telangana — have been reported in the country.

    Five positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India so far.

    As many as 25,738 people are under community surveillance across the country while 37 people suspected to have COVID-19 symptoms are currently hospitalised.

    China has so far witnessed 2,912 deaths due to coronavirus.

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

  • Pakistan records two deaths from coronavirus as confirmed cases rise to 301

    Source: GK News Network

    Pakistan shares a 960-kilometre border with Iran, with the main crossing point at Taftan in Balochistan province.

    Pakistan on Wednesday reported its first two casualties due to the deadly coronavirus that has infected 301 people across the country.

    “Sad to report one patient who passed away in Mardan,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra tweeted late Wednesday night.

    Within two hours after the tweet, Jhagra again announced that a second coronavirus death was also reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

    The minister tweeted that the patient, a 36-year old person from Hangu district, died in a hospital in Peshawar.

    The number of cases in the worst-hit Sindh province reached to 208 on Wednesday after 19 people in Karachi tested positive, said Meeran Yousuf, the media coordinator of the health and population welfare minister. She said the province recorded total 36 new cases on Wednesday.

    Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said the number of coronavirus cases in his province rose to 33 on Wednesday.

    “I can confirm that there are 33 confirmed #COVID19 patients in Punjab. 20 quarantined in Dera Ghazi Khan tested positive & have been shifted to hospital. 6 patients in Lahore, 5 in Multan and 2 in Gujrat are also under treatment,” he tweeted.

    Majority of Pakistan’s COVID-19 cases are linked to those who went on pilgrimage to Iran, one of the countries hardest-hit by the disease, while less than half a dozen are locally transmitted.

    Pakistan shares a 960-kilometre border with Iran, with the main crossing point at Taftan in Balochistan province.

    The Taftan border has been closed since March 16, but thousands of Pakistan Shia pilgrims who were visiting religious sites in Iran have been allowed to return subject to two weeks’ quarantine.

    More 10 cases were reported in Gilgit-Baltistan and its Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman said that the total number of infection in the region was 15.

    Also, the first coronavirus case was reported from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where a 45-year old person who had recently come back from Iran was found positive.

    Punjab Chief Minister Buzdar also announced that the restaurants, hotels and shopping malls would be shut down by 10pm every day to reduce exposure. He also said that number of staff at offices will be reduced.

    Already 19 cases were reported from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 16 from Balochistan and 2 from Islamabad.

    Authorities in Pakistan have screened over 1,015,900 travellers since the virus was first detected in the country. At least 20,088 travellers have been screened in the last 24 hours.

    Sindh government has come out criticising Centre for lack of foresight in quarantine arrangements in Taftan where over 9,000 pilgrims returning from Iran had been quarantined by the Balochistan government in a tent city’.

    After completing the 14-day incubation period, the pilgrims were allowed to travel back to their cities. However, Sindh and K-P sent the pilgrims to isolation facilities in Sukkur and Dera Ismail Khan and tested them before allowing further travel.

    In its March 13 National Security Committee meeting, Centre formed a Novel Coronavirus Core Committee with daily meetings between federal and provincial authorities.

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

  • Militant hideout busted by security forces in Handwara, Kashmir

    BREAKING: Militant hideout busted by security forces in Handwara, Kashmir

    Incriminating materials including UBGL, rocket-propelled grenade & rocket launcher recovered

  • Covid-19: Curbs imposed in Srinagar parts, other areas in Valley

    DC Srinagar Urges People To Cooperate: Restrictions Imposed To Stem Virus Spread

    Srinagar, March 19: Authorities on Thursday imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people in several areas of Srinagar and Budgam districts in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The imposition of the curbs by the authorities follows a day after a 67-year-old woman from Khaniyar Srinagar, who had returned on March 16 from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, tested positive for covid-19.

    Sources said barricades and concertina wires have been erected at many places in downtown Srinagar and on the roads that lead towards the old city.

    Reports said that restrictions have been also imposed in several areas of central Kashmir’s Budgam district in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

    In a series of tweets, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary urged people to cooperate, underlining that the restrictions on public gatherings, assembly and movement in many areas are aimed at avoiding the spread of any likely cases of covid-19. “Pl (please) cooperate,” he said.

    He also urged all residents who might have come in contact with the COVID-19 positive case in Srinagar to report to their nearest health facilities or contact control room at 2457552 or 2457543 or 9419028251 or 9419028242 or 9419014723.”This is urgent and cannot be ignored,” he said.

    “It’s important that people who come in contact with #Coronavirus positive case(s) should immediately report to the nearest health facility or our 24×7 control room.” (GNS)

  • Train services suspended

    COVID19 – Train Service suspended in Kashmir Valley with immediate effect till 31st March 2020.

    Train services in Kashmir would be suspended this afternoon. Railway authorities admit being served an order by govt.

    Sources say train would be shut within few hours.

  • Youth arrested during CASO in Pulwama

    Pulwama, Mar 19 (KNO): A youth was arrested during Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in South Kashmir’s Pulwama village on Thursday.

    An official told wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that Cordon and Search Operation was launched in Hakripora village of Pulwama district by joint team of forces on Thursday morning after receiving specific inputs about the presence of militants in the area.

    Cordon ended peacefully after search for few hours, he said, adding that youth was arrested during the operation. A police official while conforming his arrest said that he has been arrested for questioning—(KNO)