First Death Of CRPF Jawan Due To Covid-19 In J-K; To Be Cremated As Per Guidelines

A CRPF man died of Covid-19 on Monday morning at the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura, Jammu and Kashmir, becoming first virus casualty within the forces in the region. He was admitted to the hospital on June 4.  

The Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF) said they would perform the last rites of the jawan according to the procedure stipulated by Home Ministry guidelines.

“We are going to follow Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines regarding the Covid-19 deaths while dealing with the body of deceased CRPF man,” assistant commandant and CRPF spokesman for (operations) in Kashmir, Junaid Khan told Outlook. “The deceased CRPF man will be cremated following the proper protocol.”

On Sunday, the  Jammu and Kashmir goverment said 620 new positive cases of Covid-19--37 from Jammu division and 583 from Kashmir division--have been reported, taking the tally in the Union Territory to 4,087. Further, four Covid-19 related deaths have also been reported from Kashmir division since Sunday.

At the same time, 90 more Covid-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals.

According to the government, out of 4,087 positive cases, 2,830 are active-positive, 1,216 have recovered and 41 have died. The Jammu division has seen five deaths and Kashmir division 36.

Also, of the 2,18,481 test results available, 2,14,394 samples have been tested as negative till June 7, 2020.

On Sunday, the government, in exercise of powers conferred under section 24 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has ordered fresh classification of zones in Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of case reporting and the overall assessment by the committee for implementation of lockdown with effect from June 8 2020.

According to an order, the entire Kashmir Valley, excluding Ganderbal and Bandipora districts, has been declared as red zone while Ramban district of Jammu Province has been categorized as red zone. Besides, Kathua, Samba, Ganderbal, Bandipora Reasi, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts have been declared as orange zone and Doda and Kishtwar districts have been categorized under green zone.

The Lakhanpur containment zone on the National Highway, however, will also be a red zone with a 500 metre buffer, the order said.