COVID-19: 62 cases in Jammu and Kashmir; 17,401 under surveillance

Jammu and Kashmir Government informed that out of total 62 cases, 58 are active cases of which 48 are in Kashmir and 10 in Jammu division. A total of 17,041 cases are under surveillance so far. This is a dynamic process and while some cases who complete their period are being released for home quarantine, newer cases keep getting added as per contact tracing results.

7 new positive cases of COVID-19, all from Kashmir division, have been reported on Wednesday thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 62.

Till date, 17,041 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance which includes 10,355 persons in-home quarantine including in facilities operated by government, 516 in hospital quarantine, 52 in hospital isolation and 3961 under home surveillance.

Besides, 2,157 persons have completed their 28 days surveillance period. 977 samples have been sent for testing of which 911 have tested as negative, 62 positive and 04 reports are awaited till April 01, 2020.

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Govt emphasises on robust tracing process

"Government is conscious that there has been concern among the public at large about the cases being tested positive. However, we would like to emphasise that we have a robust tracing process. Many of the positive cases could be traced as a result of a vigorous contact tracing exercise undertaken by the administration. As a result, we were able to trace many cases including some that were asymptomatic. This is important because if not traced these cases could have continued in the general population and could even have infected more cases," Government Spokesperson Rohit Kansal said.

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Nearly 2,000 contacts of COVID-19 cases have been identified.

"We have issued instructions that no known contact be left untraced. I had mentioned last time that this is bound to lead to some inconvenience. Hot spots would need to be isolated and sealed and movements fully restricted. Jammu and Kashmir has also been testing cases aggressively and it was among the first to start testing locally through 4 testing centres. Our testing rate has been nearly 77.5 per million, one of the highest in the country and next only to Kerala. We have decided to further increase it. To begin with, we plan to test every single one of the 2000 contacts that we have identified," Kansal said.

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11 dedicated COVID-19 hospital in J&K

11 exclusive COVID-19 hospitals and administrative quarantine facility of over 35,000 beds and 2,400 have been earmarked treatment beds in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with any kind of situation. The government spokesperson said that the health department has also started upgrading its manpower and equipment.

"It has started re-engagement of retired professionals, consultants and will use every possible mechanism to ensure that there is no shortage of manpower. Similarly, it is procuring all essential material including masks, PPEs and ventilators," he said.

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An amount of Rs 1,000 per registered construction worker was approved by the Government on March 25. An amount of Rs 11,915 crore has been disbursed till date among 11,9150 active registered workers.

The process of distribution of advance ration for April and May has begun and nearly 1.31 lakh QTL of foodgrains have been distributed so far. To help the destitute, slum dwellers and migrant labour, he said that ration packets containing essential edibles are being prepared and supplied through the DCs and urban local bodies.

(Image credits: PTI)