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Declared Red entirely, Ladakh has 198 new cases

AGENCIES | LEH

A day after being re-classified as red zone, Ladakh today recorded the biggest single-day spike in coronavirus cases, with 198 persons, including students evacuated from various parts of the country, testing positive for the deadly virus.
According to the Ladakh Health Department, as many as 198 more persons tested positive for Covid in Kargil district alone. With this, the number of active cases in Ladakh has gone up to 368, including 68 in Leh and 300 in Kargil.
The condition of all 368 active cases was stable. Six patients were discharged from Covid Hospital at Mahabodhi in Leh today.
“Of the 300 active cases in Kargil district, 81 patients are admitted in Covid Hospital, while 111 cases are in home isolation and 108 in the Covid care centre,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, Leh District Magistrate Sachin Kumar Vaishya has banned the public transport, while private and commercials vehicles (meant for non-essential services) would be allowed to ply on “odd-even basis”.
Official sources attributed the unprecedented increase in the cases to the evacuation of a large number of stranded passengers, students and pilgrims from other parts of the country back to Ladakh. Around 21,000 Ladakhi stranded people have been evacuated to Ladakh after May 4.
Also, the LG of Ladakh RK Mathur has tested negative for Covid-19. According to sources, the L-G kept himself in quarantine at Raj Niwas for a few days after an ITBP officer, who tested positive for the virus, visited Raj Niwas in the first week of this month. As a precaution, his sample was collected for the test early this week.