GARAM CHASHMA: Tracing of a corona patient’s contacts has been demanded in Garam Chashma. Two men tested positive for the coronavirus here within the last two days.
Image courtesy: BBCOne of them is a resident of Mogh and works in a private bank branch in Garam Chashma and had no travel history, locals told ChitralToday.
In the second case, a resident of Utrai, Garam Chashma, had returned from Lahore a week ago and after showing symptoms his samples were sent for testing which came positive.
This person had not quarantined himself upon return from Lahore and was freely moving around in the village and meeting people. He had visited other villages in the vicinity to offer condolences besides visiting friends and relatives.
He is also reported to have spent hours in a nearby shop daily, talking to people without any safety measure.
On receipt of the report, he initially refused to shift to the isolation centre but was forced by local people to move to the facility.
This has created anxiety and concerns in the entire valley that his visits and meetings people may have caused local transmission of the virus.
The residents of the valley have demanded contact tracing and testing of all those who had come across the patient so that the local infections can be traced and stopped from further local transmission.
It may be noted that the condition of quarantine by the district administration for those returning from outside Chitral was abolished on May 17 and they were told to observe quarantine at their homes.
Tracing of corona patient contacts is an arduous job and needs work by different departments in coordination with the patient but without it the situation could be dangerous in areas such as Chitral.