With just three Coronavirus positive cases left, the administration of Ladakh says the Union Territory has the potential to become one of the first Covod-19-free zones in the country.

A health ministry document states that Ladakhs’s fight against Covid-19 serves as a model for other regions. It attributes the success to the hardwork of doctors and paramedics and leadership of the region.

“With just three cases left out of 15 positive cases, we have the potential to be among the first to be Covid-19 free,” the document says.

While explaining the model, the document reads that after the first Covid-19 patient, a 68-year-old man, in the UT was detected from the village Chuchot, the entire area was cordoned off and a containment zone was formed immediately on March 8.. The patient had returned from Iran on February 26 and had developed some of the symptoms of COVID-19. The elderly person had started coughing and had a fever. He reached hospital on February 28. He tested positive on March 7.

Of 15 Covid-19 positive cases  —  12 from Leh and 3 from Kargil — 13 have been discharged from the hospital and they are now under quarantine. “In order to contain the spread among our citizens, the health department has adopted an aggressive strategy of mass sampling. As per the ranking of states and UT on the basis of the number of samples sent per population of a million, the UT of Ladakh stands at number one in the country,” the Ministry says adding that 618 samples have been sent for testing to NCDC New Delhi.

The Ministry says that it had gone for the supervision of daily house to house flu survey, contact tracing and surveillance.

“The movement of local Ladakhis, as well as people wishing to travel to Ladakh, is governed by March 24, Ministry of Home, Government of India order. At present the decision of total restriction on any movement of passenger traffic across the country by any mode of transport will hold,” the health ministry document reads.

However, the region opened 434-km long Srinagar-Leh National Highway on Saturday after four months of closure to replenish essential supplies in Ladakh. The highway remains closed in the winters due to heavy snow on Zojila pass. The Ladakh administration Friday had decided to only allow limited traffic, including trucks and oil tankers, to replenish essential supplies in the cold desert. The government has given strict instructions to the police that they should ensure incoming drivers and helpers will not interact with local inhabitants of both Kargil and Leh, including labourers at any point of off-loading and must stop at designated stops only.