Over 70% COVID-19 cases in J&K asymptomatic: Dir NHM

SRINAGAR — Director National Health Mission (NHM) Bhupinder Kumar on Friday said that over 70 per cent of the positive cases in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are “asymptomatic” and show no symptoms related to coronavirus, contact tracing.

Director NHM claimed that surge in positive cases is a result of improved contact tracings and testing rate.

He said that all the cases in entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on basis of evidence suggests that over 70 per cent are asymptomatic and showed no symptoms stating that it’s the result of effective case finding during which teams were successful in tracking (suspects) otherwise it could have led to larger transmission.

The surge in number is cases in recent days across Jammu and Kashmir especially in Valley is due to active surveillance, contact tracing has improved and the testing rate has also improved, he said.

He said there are four COVID-19 testing labs functional in entire Union Territory and they are planning to come up with two more labs and make them functional. “Among the new ones, one will come up at JVC Srinagar,” he said. He further said that proper measures are being taken, places with positive cases are contained and declared as red zone to stop the transmission and suspects are being traced.

He also urged the general masses to adhere to the guidelines and maintain social distance even when going out to buy essentials from shops and refrain from venturing out unnecessarily.