J&K had 148 new cases of COVID19 on Saturday, 110 of these from Kashmir division, taking the overall count of confirmed cases to 4878.
The highest number of cases on Saturday were reported from Kulgam district. The district, worst affected by COVID19 in J&K had 45 new positives today. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Kulgam, Dr Fazil Kocchak said all of the new cases were contacts of known cases and two pregnant women. “24 samples that had been taken from various paramilitary CRPF camps in the district also tested positive and are among the 45 cases from Kulgam today,” reads a document from SKIMS Soura.
He attributed the high positive cases of COVID19 in the district to the high number of people who returned from outside. “We had 8000 people returning to the district directly and 5000 more who were sampled at Jammu. 13000 samples of people who were outside and belonged to Kulgam were tested,” Dr Kocchak said. He added that out of these, 220 samples tested positive. “It is due to this number, the travelers’ positives, that the district has a high case load,” he said.
In addition to travelers, Dr Kocchak said, 100 pregnant women from the district have also tested positive till date.
District Srinagar reported 12 cases out of which four are travelers returning from Delhi and Mumbai. These include a four month old infant. “The rest include a driver from SMHS hospital, a policeman admitted at SKIMS, an 8-yr old child, a retired doctor while others are contacts of known cases. History of two positives is yet to be traced,” an official in the Health department said.
District Shopian witnessed 15 cases including two from District Police Lines Shopian and majority contacts of known cases. Dr Ramesh Kumar, CMO Shopian said, “In some villages, we are able to identify a large number of cases because of aggressive testing.”
In Anantnag, only one sample tested positive today, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Shah, CMO of the district said. He added 182 patients had recovered in the district and had gone home.
Six patients from various districts admitted at SKIMS Soura also tested positive today. District Pulwama reported nine cases today. While most of these were contacts of known cases, history of two people was being ascertained. “One patient from the district admitted at SMHS Hospital and a pregnant lady were also among the new cases,” said an official of the health department.
Jammu division reported 38 cases today out of which 28 are travelers.