SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, two siblings, an eight-year-old boy and seven-month baby, have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of cases in the territory to 27. The siblings are grandchildren of an elderly person from Natipora area of Srinagar, who had returned from Saudi Arabia on March 16 after performing Umrah and tested positive for the virus on March 24. After the man developed coronavirus-like symptoms, he was shifted to Chest Disease Hospital in Srinagar, where he tested positive. Fourteen of his family members, including wife, sons, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, were put under quarantine at Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial (JLNM) hospital. Medical Superintendent JLNM Hospital, Dr Zakir Hussain, said the children are asymptomatic and have been shifted to an isolation ward. “We received test results of the two children on Thursday and the reports of others are awaited,” said Dr Zakir. The eight-month-old is the youngest to be infected with COVID-19 in the territory so far. With two more positive cases, the confirmed positive cases in occupied Kashmir has risen to 14 – 11 in Kashmir Valley and three in Jammu. Of the 14 positive cases, one (65-year-old man with travel history to India) died on Thursday, becoming the first casualty of the coronavirus. Similarly, 13 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ladakh region.—KMS
