4 test positive for COVID-19 in Udhampur; cases in J-K climb to 188

Four people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Udhampur district, taking the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 188, officials said on Friday.

The four are the contacts of a 61-year-old woman who died of coronavirus on Wednesday, they said.

"Ten tests were received in Udhampur. Out of these, four have turned out positive. They are known contacts of a woman who died of coronavirus at GMC Jammu," District Magistrate, Udhampur, Piyush Singla told PTI.

The positive cases included two grand-daughters, daughter-in-law and a neighbour of the deceased woman, he said.

The reports of the son and the husband of the woman are awaited from GMC Jammu, Singla said.

The woman's son is a PSO of a retired police officer, he said.

Authorities have declared Tikri village in Udhampur a red zone and aggressive contact tracing of positive cases is being done by health teams, officials said.

Jammu and Kashmir has so far reported 188 COVID-19 cases -- 152 in the Valley and 36 in the Jammu region.

The disease has claimed four lives -- one in Jammu and three in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the body of the woman, who died of coronavirus on Wednesday, was cremated as per protocol at the Jogi Gate area in Jammu, officials said.

The woman was the first victim of the the deadly virus in the Jammu region.

She was an arthritis patient and bed-ridden and was shifted to Narayana Super Specialty Hospital at Kakryal in Katra by her family following chest congestion and other problems, sources said.

As she was symptomatic, the hospital referred her to the Government Medical College Jammu where she tested positive for COVID-19, they said.

The woman had no travel history, they added.