Bandipora: As north Kashmir’s Bandipora district like the rest of Jammu and Kashmir continues to witness a spike in COVID-19 positive cases, the frontier Gurez Valley has a single COVID-19 case with mild symptoms.
The case was detected through Rapid Antigen Testing on Monday and for the snowbound valley, this was the first COVID-19 positive case detected in January.
In December, three cases were detected in Gurez Valley.
The valley is cut off via road since December following the snowfall and is likely to remain disconnected for a few more months.
“We traced all the contacts of the Police personnel in Dawar but found none among those positive. So far, only have one case with mild symptoms who has been kept in isolation,” Block Medical Officer (BMO) Gurez, Dr Tahira Nazir told Greater Kashmir.
According to officials, the road closure has proven to be a blessing in disguise for Gurez remaining largely “COVID free” so far.
“If the road opens, we may also witness a spike in cases,” Dr Tahira said. “The road closure is a blessing in disguise at this moment as there is almost no travel history.”
However, with the road closure, there are also certain problems for Gurez as RT-PCR sampling is not being done due to the transportation amid closed roads.
However, Dr Tahira said that they leave very little scope for any case to skip by.
“Despite low population, our daily RAT sampling crosses 350-360 mark. All the contacts or symptomatic cases are sampled even from the remotest areas,” she said.
Dr Tahira said that with air sorties being arranged for stranded travellers and medical emergencies, they receive the flight schedule daily from each helipad, and teams are formed for testing passengers, and in case there is a positive case that is removed to the isolation centre.
Besides road closure, the doctor credited the COVID Appropriate Behaviour, awareness among the people, and hard work of the medicos too for keeping Gurez a “COVID free” zone.
As per the officials, despite Gurez being largely “COVID free”, the department was well prepared to deal with the spike.
“We have a 40-bedded designated COVID-19 facility at the Sub District Hospital with oxygen manifold. A five-bedded maternity ward for positive expecting women is also ready,” the BMO said.
She said that there were five-bedded designated facilities with oxygen cylinders and concentrators at village levels in Panchayats, sub-centers and PHCs.
“Moreover, the remote villages like Gujjran, Budugam, Checkpora, and Bagtore were also equipped with oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders,” Dr Tahira said.