After the new cases in Jammu division began to rise last week, the Health department increased the testing in the division for early detection of cases. Today, 512 people across J&K tested positive and four more lost their lives.
Officials said 29,370 COVID19 tests were carried out in J&K between Friday and Saturday.
Saturday’s was the highest number of tests carried out in a single day in J&K.
Among the samples that were tested, 512 were found positive. A majority of the new cases were from Jammu division. The official bulletin on the pandemic said 300 positive cases were from Jammu division and 212 from Kashmir division.
The Health and Medical Education department had directed to increase sampling and testing in a review meeting earlier this week.
Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir, DrQaziHaroon said over 12,000 samples were tested in Kashmir division. He said 1659 samples were tested using RT-PCR and 9428 samples with Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits. DrHaroon said the highest number of rapid tests was carried out in Baramulla district (2702) followed by Srinagar (1475). With regard to RT-PCR testing, 346 samples from Budgam were tested, the highest for any district.
However, the positive cases were not in consonance with the quantum of testing in the districts. As per the data, 97 cases reported today were from Srinagar district, 26 from Baramulla and seven from Anantnag. DrHaroon said the positive percentage was variable across districts and reflected the need for micro-planning. “Containment strategy needs to be customised as per the cases emerging from a particular district,” he said.
In Jammu division, Jammu district had 129 new cases, Rajouri 33 and Udhampur 31. The cumulative case tally reached 1,09,383.
The death toll in J&K reached 1680, including the four people that died on Saturday. Two of the deceased were from Kashmir division. One of them, a 48-year-old man from IchlooBaramulla was admitted at SKIMS, Soura with pneumonia and had multiple underlying ailments, a doctor said.
A 60-year-old man from Ganderbal, also admitted at SKIMS Soura, lost the battle with the viral illness on Saturday. The death toll suffered by Srinagar neared the 1100 mark today.