SRINAGAR: A total of 275 doctors and paramedics of various hospitals in Kashmir have tested positive for COVID-19 since January 1 this year, officials said on Sunday.
Professor and Head of Department, Community Medicine, GMC Srinagar, Dr Salim Khan said 145 doctors, 130 MBBS students and 130 paramedics have tested positive for COVID-19 in GMC Srinagar and associated hospitals since January 1.
He said most of the infected have mild symptoms.
"No one among them has been hospitalised, but, they are in isolation. Hopefully, they will report back in a week's time," Khan said.
Khan appealed to the people to avoid visiting hospitals unnecessarily.
"Hospitals are most frequented places by infected people. Visit hospitals only in case of emergency. No need to visit your near and dear ones admitted to hospitals or isolated/ quarantined at homes. Please follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and all standard operating procedures," he said.
Jammu Divisional Commissioner Raghav Langer on Sunday urged the business community to support the administration in the fight against COVID-19 amid the third wave.
Langer was interacting with the representatives of traders' associations here at a virtual meeting as "complete restriction on non-essential movement" during weekends brought life to a standstill across Jammu and Kashmir.
The Union Territory on Sunday recorded 3,499 fresh COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day spike in infections so far this year, taking the virus tally to 3,59,373, while six related deaths during the past 24 hours pushed the death toll to 4,567.
During the interaction, a healthy discussion was held on issues like enforcement of coronavirus guidelines and Covid-appropriate behaviour (CAB) in the public places and business establishments with joint efforts of administration and traders, an official spokesman said.
The traders apprised the divisional commissioner about the issues which need to be resolved at the government level.
The divisional commissioner urged the associations to strictly follow Covid guidelines like wearing of face masks, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene during their business activities.
He also asked them to ensure that the customers enter their shops with face masks and follow CAB.
The traders demanded deployment of more testing teams in market areas and other prominent locations of bazar, engaging volunteers for better enforcement of Covid guidelines, and regular sanitization of market areas, the spokesman said.
They also demanded that like previous year the triage centres of districts be activated timely and there should be no unnecessary referrals to Jammu.
The traders requested that clarity should be given by the government regarding essential and non-essential services, the spokesman said.
The traders said they support strict enforcement of CAB and representatives of market associations should also be made the part of enforcement teams, flying squads for assisting better implementation of the SOPs.
The associations also suggested activating tele-consultation for patients in home isolation.
They also suggested facilitating the tourists coming to tourist destinations of Jammu division and be allowed only after testing and checking of vaccination status, the spokesman said.
Regarding imposition of restrictions which the government intends to place, the traders demanded that they may be timely informed.
They also advised that the government offices should also operate with 50 per cent capacity to break the chain of transmission, the spokesman said.
He said the divisional commissioner gave a patient hearing to the traders and assured that all their demands and suggestions would be taken into consideration.
The associations assured to extend their full cooperation to the administration in implementing Covid guidelines for containment of the virus, the spokesman said.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 3,499 fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the infection count to 3,59,373, while six deaths were also reported in the past 24 hours, officials said.
Out of the fresh cases, 1,210 were from the Jammu division and 2,289 from the Kashmir division of the Union Territory, the officials said.
They said Srinagar district recorded a maximum of 614 new cases, followed by 556 cases in Jammu district.
There are 15,883 active coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir, while the number of recoveries stands at 3,38,923, the officials said.
The new fatalities raised the death toll from the pandemic to 4,567 in the Union Territory, they said.