Ladakh is set to become a model for corona fightback

Srinagar: The Ladakh region has now four positive cases of Covid-19 left as on Friday, while 14 of the positive cases have tested negative due to efforts of local corona warriors, doctors and administration.

The real unsung hero against coronavirus in Ladakh is Lama Thupstan Chogyal who is heading the Ladakh Heart Foundation, an NGO, as he has been working hard on the ground with his volunteers to detect suspect cases.

Talking to this newspaper, Chogyal said that his volunteers, including doctors, used to move and treat around 800 to 1,000 people every month, especially during winters in the entire Ladakh region. “We have suspended that work and currently, we are only fighting against coronavirus, along with government doctors and administration,” he said. The Union Territory of Ladakh administration is on the verge of declaring the region coronavirus free, as the four positive patients are responding to treatment. Recent health ministry documents said that Ladakh’s fight against Covid-19 serves as a model for other regions. It attributes the success to the hard work of doctors and paramedics and leadership of the region.

Home ministry documents have praised the “swiftness of the administration” to act as it immediately sealed villages and quarantined all suspected cases after detecting the first positive cases. As a precautionary measure, doctors and authorities have kept all patients who have recovered in quarantine at an isolated ward and are daily monitoring them. A senior doctor of Sonam Nurbo Memorial hospital of Leh said, “Out of 15 Covid-19 positive cases—12 from Leh and three from Kargil—13 have been discharged from hospital and they are now under quarantine.”

The Ladakh administration is presently doing aggressive sampling, including going door-to-door, collecting samples of all those having even less symptoms of the disease. The biggest two hurdles for the Ladakh administration are the recent permission to trucks and oil tankers to bring essential supplies inside the region and the 1,200 pilgrims, mostly from Kargil, who are either stranded in Iran or in different parts of the country. Although the administration has asked police to keep drivers and their helpers away from the local population in Kargil and Ladakh, chances of interaction and mingling are high.