As many as 441 new cases of COVID19 were recorded in J&K on Saturday, the cumulative total reaching 13198.
Of the cases reported today, 398 were reported from the Kashmir division, while 43 were from Jammu division. Among the Kashmir cases, 282 were traced through line-listing of contacts of cases who tested positive in the past, an official said. The official said that 33 people who had reported at hospitals for testing or were already admitted for various treatments were also positive for COVID19. 14 of the total cases reported from Kashmir were healthcare workers. A six-month old baby from Baramulla also tested positive.
Service providers are tested randomly across districts of Kashmir. These include shopkeepers, artisans, bakers, pharmacists, milkmen etc. Today, 20 service providers tested positive. In addition, nine samples taken from red zones were also positive.
In Kashmir, Srinagar district had the highest number of new cases today. The district, which has been witnessing a speedy rise of COVID19 cases, saw 124 people testing positive today. 18 of these were returning from outside the UT. A health official said over 30 of the cases from Srinagar today were either self-reported cases, or those tested randomly.
A number of samples from courts and security establishments in Srinagar as well as among pregnant women were also found positive, the official said.
Srinagar’s active positive cases, those undergoing treatment, approached 2000 today. Only 4 Srinagar residents were discharged from hospitals after recovery. The number of recovered patients less than 25 percent of the total – 570 of the 2611 cases till date.
Baramulla district had 63 cases. Three healthcare workers were among these cases. Many of the cases were randomly sampled from red zones, an official said. In addition, a number people had reported to the hospitals of the district with symptoms. Four travelers returning from outside the UT were also found positive. Although Baramulla has 1527 cases, 848 of these have recovered and have been discharged.
48 cases were reported from Pulwama. Many of these were contacts of cases from Midoora, a few CRPF personnel, and Pampore residents in addition to other areas.
Anantnag had 47cases, the total reported cases in the district accumulating to 1032. Of these only 335 are active positive. Most of these are contacts of known cases, although an official said, a few people sampled at banks in the district also tested positive. A doctor from Anantnag was also reported as positive today.
Budgam had 41 new positives today, Shopian 27, Kulgam 25, Ganderbal 16, Bandipora 5, Kupwara 2.
In Jammu, 13 cases were travelers, the rest contacts of known cases and randomly sampled people.