30 tested positive in old age home in Ladakh

By Tenzin Dharpo

DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 26: Thirty people including two care-takers at the old-age home in Ladakh run by TCV has tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The old age facility situated in Choglamsar in Tibetan settlement of Sonamling in the Union territory of Ladakh has been cordoned off at the moment.

All the infected senior citizens aged between 60 to 98 have been shifted to the nearby TCV school hostel while the remaining who tested negative continue to live at the old age home. The facility has total of 62 senior residents.

A reliable official who does not wish to be named told Phayul, “Most of those who tested positive are asymptomatic at the moment while few are beginning to show apparent symptoms. One elderly who was serious was shifted to the dedicated Covid-19 hospital this morning, although he is stable now.”

The authorities are taking corrective measures including sanitizing the whole compound. The virus known to be especially potent towards people with pre-existing conditions and the elderly could not have struck a more vulnerable spot, the same source lamented.

The Union territory of Ladakh where one of the largest Tibetan settlement is situated has earlier seen a few cases of Tibetans infected with the virus. The UT saw a spike of 31 cases on Wednesday alone with the overall tally of cases registered at 2210. Of the total cases, 1469 have recovered and 21 have died, according to the UT of Ladakh’s official Covid-19 website. There are still 720 active cases in the region.

Last week, the Central Tibetan Administration’s Covid-19 task force in their weekly briefing announced that there were six new cases of Covid-19 and one death among Tibetans in the exile community. The tally has now risen to 36 active cases.