Srinagar: The J&K Government on Thursday said that the UT was capable of testing up to 2 lakh samples in a day, to keep pace with the rising positivity rate, with its network of RT-PCR Labs and hundreds of RAT Points. In one week, the average number of tests have gone up by 50 per cent.
Additional Chief Secretary to J&K Government, Vivek Bhardwaj while speaking to Greater Kashmir said that testing in J&K was among the highest in India. He said J&K was increasing its volume of tests with every passing day as the COVID19 Wave intensified.
“We have provided facilities for testing upto 2 lakh samples in a day if there is a need,” he said. He said three RT-PCR Labs were inaugurated recently and these labs can help in strengthening the network of already existing PCR Labs. In addition, he said, the Rapid Antigen Test kits have also been procured in bulk and were helping in testing at all entry points to the UT as well as at other places.
In the past one week, Bhardwaj said, the number of tests has increased from an average of 55,000 to an average of 80,000. “We are on a steady rise in terms of tests and this is very important in terms of COVID19 mitigation strategy,” he said.
He said the teams from the health department were contact-tracing the positive cases and by identifying and testing contacts on time, it was trying to slow down the spread of infection. On Thursday, 87470 samples were tested in J&K.