SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, Vice Chairman of Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), Mohammad Iqbal Tramboo has expressed disappointment over improper quarantine facilities to prevent spread of COVID-19. Mohammad Iqbal Tramboo in a statement issued in Srinagar said, “Such facilities need to have basic standards of hygiene and comfort to ensure a long and comfortable stay in isolation. To put victim persons in a miserable environment is not only inhuman but hazardous to the quarantined persons.” He said, people are bundled in big, unhealthy numbers in a single room with a single dirty and unhygienic bathroom. Expressing anguish, Trumboo said, “It could have disastrous fallout as such measures defeat the very purpose of quarantine. Authorities need to check the facilities at quarantine centres and keep these under expert watch and control.” “COVID-19 needs strong, efficient and durable public health care. Even basic requirements of hygiene and effective medical care/supervision seem to be missing at the designated COVID-19 centres, he added. Meanwhile, five more patients tested positive for the deadly COVID-19 in the Valley on Sunday morning, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 38. “5 more positives cases confirmed in Kashmir, 2 from Srinagar, 2 Budgam, 1 Baramulla,” an official said. Two among the 38, a 65-year-old man from uptown Hyderpora and another sexagenarian from Baramulla District, have died. A 67-year-old woman, who was first COVID-19 patient in the Valley, has recovered at SKIMS Soura, the Valley’s only tertiary care hospital.—KMS
