A doctor who emerged as the face of the battle against novel coronavirus in Kashmir tested positive for the infection on Tuesday. Two deceased also tested positive in north Kashmir, taking the toll to 33 in J&K. Ladakh also registered its first death due to COVID-19.
Pulmonologist Naveed Shah, who heads the Chest Diseases Hospital at Drugjan in Srinagar, said he had tested positive (for coronavirus) and was following the protocol.
“I am in quarantine and working from here. I will be available for all possible deliverable services,” he said, adding, “I request the administration to prepare a scientific standard operating procedure for duties and testing of all front-line workers to safeguard all.” Dr. Shah heads the main health facility that treats critical COVID-19 patients.
The doctor, who decided against going home and started working from a government facility even after the official hours were over, had become popular among the masses for his efforts to educate people about the infection through social media platforms and television programmes. Dr. Shah is the 20th doctor to have contracted the infection in the course of the battle against COVID-19.
Panic in Secretariat
The attendance of employees has dropped significantly in the Jammu Secretariat after an IAS officer tested positive and over 50 officers, including over a dozen IAS officers, were quarantined for coming in contact with the patient.
In the Union Territory of Ladakh, the sample of three-time Congress MP and former Union Minister P. Namgyal from Ladakh tested positive. Namgyal, who died on Monday, had returned from Delhi nearly a fortnight ago.
