65 students among 70 skiing camp participants tested positive, Gulmarg J&K bank branch closed after employees of bank and Gandola tested positive
OSD SDM Uri among 20 people test positive, J&K bank Uri closed
Reyaz Rashid
Baramulla: With sudden surge in Covid-19 positive cases, famous winter tourist destination Gulmarg is becoming Covid-19 hotspot in Baramulla district after 65 students undergoing skiing trainee in skiing camp at Gulmarg organized by Jammu and Kashmir Youth Services and Sports (YSS) at Gulmarg, several employees of Gandola Cable Car Project, employees of J&K Bank Gulmarg and several hoteliers have tested positive while Baramulla district reported fresh 311 positive cases on Thursday.
Sources said that several employees of the Cable Car Project, employees of J&K Bank Gulmarg and several hoteliers have tested positive following which the J&K bank branch was closed.
An official of the YSS department, who is also part of the camp said around 120 students and officials were participating in the camp and around 70 of them have tested positive for Covid-19 including five trainers.
He said that as per protocol students before becoming part of the camp were asked to send to their RT-PCR tests which they did and they all were negative. “Later, RAT tests were also conducted which also came negative,” the official said.
The official said that before few days after it was reported that there are some positive cases in general area of Gulmarg on the directions of Director Tourism G N Itoo mass sampling was done and on Thursday after around six days their reports were received and reports showed around 70 positive including five trainers.
He said that they have segregated positive and negative cases and isolated them besides that all precautions are being taken in this regard and camp have to be closed.
“There is no need to worry as all positive children are asymptomatic and fine,” the official said.
An official of the health department also said that all children are fine and efforts are on to trace their contacts so that they too will also be tested.
Meanwhile, after first Omicron case was detected in Uri, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) SDM Uri, a Bank employee of J&K Bank Uri including 20 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Uri on Thursday, official sources said.
They said that RTPCR samples were taken yesterday and results came on Thursday.
“Positive for Covid-19 patients were advised for strict home quarantine as per Covid protocol. Results of some other samples are still pending and the results came out by evening,” an official of health department said.