Once Covid-19 Free, Ladakh Now In Grip Of Contagion; 104 Cases In 1 Day, Tally Reaches 239

With this new wave, Deputy Commissioner Kargil Baseer ul Haq Choudhary has announced reimposition of strict lockdown in the Kargil-Drass belt, and closure of the markets and shops.

Ladakh recorded as many as 104 cases today, forcing authorities to reimpose strict lockdown. (File Photo/ Getty)

Leh: From being declared free from novel Coronavirus in the mid of May, Ladakh is now amid a very high surge in the corona positive cases sending shockwaves in the whole region. According to the latest updates from the sources, Ladakh recorded as many as 104 cases today, forcing authorities to reimpose strict lockdown in the landlocked mountainous area which has population of just over 5 lakhs. This is the single highest ever surge in the region since March 15, when the first corona positive case was recorded taking the total number of cases to 239, with 176 active cases at present. The region has witnessed one death due to Covid-19 till now. It is to be noted that Ladakh was declared corona free on May 19 when the region had no single positive case. However, the graph has changed drastically over past few days.

Among the fresh cases, 69 were recorded in Kargil, while Leh region recorded 35 fresh corona cases, mostly due to the returning travellers from other parts of the country. With this new wave, Deputy Commissioner Kargil Baseer ul Haq Choudhary has announced reimposition of strict lockdown in the Kargil-Drass belt, and closure of the markets and shops. Administration says that there have been some lapses in the following SOPs of social distancing and quarantine, and that is why there will be zero tolerance over violations. Movement of all sorts of private vehicles has been banned, except in case of emergencies, where movement passes will be issued. Ladakh has witnessed the return of over 30 thousand people from across the country and some foreign countries as well after May 5, when the lockdown was eased. While all these returnees were put under institutional as well as home quarantine of 14 days, but still they have managed to infect others.