COVID-19: Over 2100 persons put under surveillance in J&K

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Government on Sunday informed that 2157 number of travellers and persons in contact with the suspected Coronavirus cases have been put under surveillance in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.
The Government Spokesman here said that 1829 persons are under home quarantine and 29 persons are in hospital quarantine while 131 persons are under home surveillance.
Further, he said that 101 samples have been sent for testing, of which 87 tested as negative and only two cases have tested positive, so far while as reports of 12 cases are awaited till March 15. Meanwhile, 168 persons have completed their 28 days surveillance period.
According to the spokesman, home quarantined persons and their family members are requested to cooperate with the local surveillance teams and health authorities and strictly follow the guidelines for home quarantine issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI.
Public in general has been requested to strengthen surveillance mechanism by making self-declaration about their foreign travel history to local health authorities, he said and added, “moreover all social, religious and political organizations are urged to avoid large gatherings,” reads the advisory.
Medical masks, according to the advisory should not be used by healthy persons who are not having any symptoms because it creates false sense of security that can lead to neglecting other essential measures such as washing of hands.
“In fact erroneous use of masks or continuous use of a disposable mask for longer than six hours or repeated use of same mask may actually increase risk of getting infection,” he said.
Stressing on the social distancing, the advisory urged people not to panic and avoid un-necessary travel, use of public transport; avoid crowded places and large gatherings.
“People must take basic precautions for personal hygiene; frequent hand washing with soap and water; and observing coughing and sneezing etiquettes. If anyone has fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, seek medical care at the earliest,” it said.
To avoid any misinformation, people are urged to rely only on the information released by the government through the daily media bulletin to print and electronic media, the spokesman added.