At least over two dozen bureaucrats, along with Principal of Government Medical College, Jammu and several other functionaries of the health department were home quarantined in Jammu hours after one of the Principal secretary rank officer tested positive for coronavirus late on Saturday.
The said IAS officer was deputed to Srinagar to supervise arrangements of returning passengers via air.
On his return from Srinagar he went through mandatory screening at the Jammu airport and late evening he tested positive, sending shock wave among the senior authorities in the corridors of power.
According to official sources, the said officer, had also attended a high level meeting with senior colleagues in Jammu on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by one of the senior most bureaucrat of the rank of financial commissioner, a principal secretary, a senior bureaucrat in the disaster management authority and officials from health and medical education department.
Early Sunday morning, while IAS officer was shifted to a dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Katra and all others, who had attended the meeting were advised to remain in home quarantine for next couple of days. A senior officer told The Pioneer, “senior officers have been advised to isolate themselves and remain in home quarantine”. “We will collect their samples at the appropriate time”, he added.
Earlier, wife and son of a senior Advisor to Lt-Gov GC Murmu had tested positive and he too was advised to remain in administrative quarantine.
Meanwhile, 105 Cases were detected across Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday taking the total tally to 2446.
The total number of active cases touched 1491, 380 from Jammu and 1111 from Kashmir division.
According to the media bulletin, out of 105 fresh cases, 90 cases were detected from Kashmir divison and 15 from Jammu division on Sunday.
The three districts of Anantnag, Kulgam and Kupwara in Kashmir division continue to record fresh cases. At present 211 cases are active in Anantnag, 264 in Kulgam followed by 193 in Kupwara.
In another related development, Jammu and Kashmir Government Sunday decided to continue with the guidelines and instructions in-operation in the UT for lockdown measures, beyond May 31, the last day of 4.0 Lockdown, till June 8, 2020.
The Chief Secretary, in his capacity as Chairperson State Executive Committee of Department of Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction, has ordered that the guidelines/instructions issued vide order No. 54, 55 and 56 –JK (DMRRR) of 2020 dated 19.05.2020 & 24.05.2020 shall continue to remain valid till 08.06.2020.