JK reports 5 new COVID-19 cases, total tally 75 now

Jammu and Kashmir on Friday reported five new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Union Territory to 75, a senior government official said.

As many as 5,316 people were put under surveillance on Friday, increasing the total number of people being monitored for suspected coronavirus infection to 22,993, he said.

"The total number of positive cases for COVID-19 has gone up to 75. Five new cases were reported today", Principal Secretary Information and Planning, Rohit Kansal, told reporters here.

He said that of the five new cases, four have been reported from Kashmir and one from Jammu.

While the four cases from Kashmir are contacts of positive cases the verification for one in Jammu is underway, he said.

Giving details on testing, he said that 1,218 tests have been conducted in the UT so far, and 6.15 per cent of them -- 75 samples returned positive.

An aggressive campaign to trace contacts is going on and testing is one of highest among states and UTs, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir is the first among UTs and state in the country to have its own testing facilities, he said.

He said that out of 2,000 contacts of positive cases, 975 have been traced and all of them will be subjected to testing, he added.

As many as 34 red zones -- 24 in Kashmir and 10 in Jammu -- have been declared in Jammu and Kashmir, where special arrangements have been put in place with strict enforcement of restrictions, he said.