On Thursday, Health Department officials said, 59 new cases were reported from across J&K, taking the total number of cases in the UT to 1,449. Two coronavirus-related deaths were reported from the Valley on Thursday. ENS

Twenty-one police personnel from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district have been tested positive for coronavirus days after the District Police Lines (DPL) of nearby Anantnag district emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot in south Kashmir, with 78 police personnel testing positive.

On Thursday, officials in Srinagar said 21 police personnel from Kulgam were among the 59 fresh cases reported in J&K. “Out of 60 police personnel tested, 21 were found positive today,” said Kulgam’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Fazil Kochak.

He said it is suspected that the police personnel got the infection from a colleague who tested positive a week ago. “We still do not know how that person got infected…it is being looked into,” Dr Kochak said. “All those who have been tested positive were already quarantined by the police a week ago.”

J&K Police said the personnel who have tested positive in Kulgam were never put on “public interface duties”.

On Thursday, Health Department officials said, 59 new cases were reported from across J&K, taking the total number of cases in the UT to 1,449. Two coronavirus-related deaths were reported from the Valley on Thursday. ENS