MUZAFFARABAD: As three more people, including a four-year-old girl, tested positive for Covid-19 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) over the last 24 hours, the first positive patient was sent home after his full recovery, officials said on Saturday.

The 45-year-old resident of Sudhnoti, who had returned from Iran via Taftan border, was being kept in an isolation hospital in Mirpur since March 18 when he tested positive, said Mirpur District Health Officer Dr Fida Hussain.

He said the patient was allowed to go home after his samples tested negative on two consecutive days.

His four companions, who were kept in the quarantine centre inMirpur, were also relieved along with him, he said.

In a tweet, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider also confirmed the recovery of the first Covid-19 patient, with whom, he said, he had a conversation on telephone.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman in Bhimber district and a man in his 50s in Poonch district tested positive, another official said.

The minor girl was the fourth member of a family who had tested positive while the elderly woman was the mother of an expatriate who had himself tested positive three days ago.

Both had come from the UK two weeks ago.

So far, 12 people in AJK have tested positive, including the recovered persons. Six of them belonged to Bhimber, three to Mirpur, two to Sudhnoti and one to Poonch.

Meanwhile, speaking at a ceremony held to hand over protective kits to the administrator of Municipal Corporation Muzaffarabad on Saturday, Prime Minister Haider called upon the masses to strictly follow precautionary and preventive measures.

“Lockdown and other strict measures are for the safety of the people,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2020