A slight drop in cases was recorded in J&K on Wednesday when 453 positives were reported, the total number of cases reaching 15711.
In the past 24 hours, 8954 COVID19 tests were carried out in J&K. 5 percent of these samples tested positive, against the average 6 percent of the week gone by.
While 352 cases reported today were from Kashmir division, 101 cases were from Jammu division. None of the cases reported from Kashmir today were those with a recent travel history. Four doctors and three other healthcare workers have also tested positive.
Among the districts in Kashmir, 165 cases were reported from Srinagar. With these new cases, the number of active cases in Srinagar crossed 2000. Currently, a health official said, these patients are admitted in various hospitals in the city. Although J&K Government has recently reduced the admission time of COVID19 patients by four days, by modifying the discharge policy, the hospitals meant for COVID19 cases are full to capacity, the official said.
A senior health official said that over 60 people out of the new cases from Srinagar were self reported. The official said that many people were coming forward after experiencing COVID19 symptoms and getting their sample taken at the hospitals.
Kulgam reported 62 cases of COVID19 today. Barring five, all the samples were of service providers in the district. A health official from the district said that hundreds of samples had been taken from various areas falling in red zones. “Incidentally, we had a very high number of shopkeepers of every category positive today,” he said.
In Baramulla, where 58 positives were reported, only six people were contacts of known cases, a health administrator said. He said that most of the cases were among random samples and service providers, although three pregnant women from the district were also reported positive.
Other districts had their cases as – Pulwama 30, Anantnag 1, Kupwara 11, Budgam 4, Bandipora 5 and Ganderbal 0.
In Jammu, Rajouri had 47 cases, Jammu 14, Kathua 10, Udhampur 8, Samba 4, Poonch 4, Doda 6, Reasi 8 and Kishtwar 0.
152 COVID19 cases were discharged from hospital today. These included 26 from Srinagar, 20 from Shopian and 20 from Budgam.
Information bulletin issued by the Government advised people to prevent the spread of disease by being “responsible for the well-being of ourselves and everyone around us”. “Not disclosing symptoms could put the life of individuals and their families at risk. In case of symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing report early. Do not fear, call COVID19 helpline numbers and seek medical advice,” the bulletin said.