20 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Ladakh, total tally rises to 42

Twenty people have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Ladakh over the past two days, taking the total tally of cases reported in the Union Territory to 42, officials said on Sunday.

Among the new cases, 18 have been reported from Leh, 16 of which are from Chuchot Yokma area which has already been declared a containment zone. One case is from Zangsti area of Leh city detected through Aarogya Setu app, District Magistrate Leh Sachin Kumar Vaishya said.

Two other COVID-19 cases were reported from Kargil district on Saturday and Sunday.

They include a 52-year-old woman, a resident of Kaksar village, who had gone on pilgrimage to Iran. She was evacuated from Iran and kept in quarantine for over a month in Rajasthan before being airlifted to her hometown last week.

The woman was admitted to a hospital after her COVID-19 test report came positive, officials said.

With the jump in the number of positive cases, Vaishya said Leh district has been designated as Red zone and therefore restrictions announced by the Home Ministry would be followed rigorously.

"It has also been made mandatory that every person in the containment zone and those entering Leh district must download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones," he said.

According to officials, the district magistrate has declared Tongra area's Spituk, Zangsti Malpak, Chuchot Shamma and Yokma as containment zones.

With 16 patients cured, there are 26 active cases in the region -- 20 in Leh district and the rest in Kargil district, the officials said.