The Kashmir valley recorded the first two cases of UK’s new strain of Covid-19 on Saturday when two male members were tested positive in Srinagar.
This has triggered panic in the valley that has already recorded several deaths due to coronavirus during the past few months.
Both tested positive were travellers and belong to the Habak and Soura localities of downtown Srinagar.
They have been admitted to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital (JLNMH) in Srinagar for treatment.
Nodal officer for Covid-19 confirmed that both have been tested positive for the new mutant strain of coronavirus.
Srinagar’s administration has started comprehensive contact tracing of the duo.
Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a substantial drop in its daily number of Covid-19 cases in the recent weeks. From the peak of over 2000 positive cases per day in September, the number has come down to 100 odd positive cases in the recent days.
Since the outbreak in March 2020, 1,22,303 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,907 have died in the UT of J&K.
The administrations of all districts has been asked to stay alert and quarantine travelers immediately.