MUZAFFARABAD: A high-profile Covid-19 patient, among the three fresh cases that surfaced in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday, has set the alarm bells ringing in the lakeside city of Mirpur, residents and official sources said.

The patient tested positive on Sunday to the shock of the officials, as the victim had been holding meetings with his staff and volunteers, ever since his arrival from the United Kingdom some two weeks ago, in connection with provision of relief items to the people in straitened circumstances in the wake of the lockdown.

A Mirpur-based source who did not want to be identified told Dawn that the patient had not gone into quarantine for 14 days on his arrival from the UK as per the standard operating procedure spelt out by the government.

The Kort complex on the outskirts of Mirpur city, which was also visited by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Feb 6, is home to over 200 children as well as dozens of workers and volunteers.

“He met his staff, children, etc, and after having mild symptoms took his first test on March 28 the result of which was negative and the second test on April 3 which turned out to be positive,” the source said.

“God forbid, Mirpur may become another hub of Covid-19 patients,” the source feared.

However, Mirpur Deputy Commissioner Raja Tahir Mumtaz downplayed fears and asked people to continue precautions as well as their cooperation to the authorities to contain the pandemic in their area.

He said all close contacts of the patient had been isolated and would be screened on Monday, he said.

“We have also ascertained details of everyone who he has come in contact. We will screen them as well,” he added.

The second positive case was a resident of Kotli, who was in a quarantine centre in Mirpur after returning from Iran via Taftan border, he said.

The third person who had tested positive on Sunday was also a resident of Kotli, who had given his sample for screening in Mirpur Lab two days ago.

The 59-year-old had told the health authorities that he had no travel history and that some guests from the UK had visited him, Mr Mumtaz said.

Sources in Kotli, however, claimed that the victim himself had a travel history from the UK.

Meanwhile, as most of the cases in the southern AJK districts had foreign connection, Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Sunday called upon the diaspora members to avoid travel to Pakistan and AJK for some time.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2020