First Covid death in Kashmir, doctors call for mass testing

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, March 26

The authorities in Kashmir have come under sharp criticism for not doing enough testing for Covid-19 after an Islamic preacher became the first casualty of the virus in the Union Territory on Thursday, creating fears that he must be a “super spreader” of the virus.

“Sad news: First death due to coronavirus – 65 years old male from Hyderpora Srinagar. Four of his contacts also tested positive yesterday,” government spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted.

At the time of the admission, the deceased had complained of fever and acute respiratory distress syndrome with co-morbidities of hypertension and diabetes. He was admitted to CD Hospital on March 22 and declared positive on March 24.

Four of his close aides were found positive on Wednesday after they met him at a mosque in Samba district, where hundreds of followers of the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, had assembled between March 12 and March 16 for a religious congregation.

The Deoband leadership has also come under sharp criticism from locals for not avoiding religious gatherings since the outbreak of Covid-19.

Soon after the preacher was declared positive for Covid-19, hundreds of followers of Deoband lined-up outside hospitals in Kashmir for screening.

Five doctors and over a dozen health workers, who treated him at two hospitals before his admission at CD Hospital, have been put under home quarantine.

Before returning to Kashmir on March 16, he had travelled to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. He had met thousands of people, including foreigners, at various religious congregations across the country during his nearly three-month-long travel.

However, even after revealing his travel history at two hospitals, he was not admitted to hospital for quarantine or tested for Covid-19. Doctors say as per the government protocol unless a person has travelled to a foreign country, he or she cannot be tested for Covid-19.

They blamed the government for allowing the preacher to become a “super spreader” of the virus in Kashmir by not testing him when he visited the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) for a check-up.

“The doctors have been given clear directions not to test people for Covid-19 without foreign travel history. The deadly virus has already entered into the community and the government is giving it space to spread by not carrying vigorous mass testing,” said a senior doctor at SKIMS, Bemina.

“At present, if anyone has fever, cough, shortness of breath, the doctor should ask for a swab and then take their other history. Don’t blame the patients only. The delay in diagnosis and subsequent transmission in this case has its onus on the medical personnel and not patient,” said Dr Tasaduq Sultan Khan, well-known chest disease physician.

Eleven persons have so far tested positive for Covid-19 in Jammu and Kashmir.