Srinagar: Five more Covid-19 cases, including a person whose samples were sent by the army hospital in Srinagar, came to light on Sunday, taking the tally to 38 in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to officials, all the five fresh cases were tested positive at the virology lab of Chest Diseases Hospital.
One of the five samples tested positive was received from army hospital Srinagar some days ago, officials said.
“Four of the five latest coronavirus patients are presently admitted at Chest Diseases Hospital but we are not sure about the fifth patient. His samples had come from the Army Hospital, Srinagar, for testing some days ago,” Dr Salim Khan, Nodal Officer for Coronavirus at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, told Kashmir Reader.
“The sample came positive today morning. It may be of some army or paramilitary person. We are not sure but we have alerted the army about it,” he said.
Earlier, government spokesperson Rohit Kansal had informed that among the new cases two each are from Srinagar and Budgam and one from Baramulla.
“5 more positive cases confirmed in Kashmir – 2 from Srinagar, 2 Budgam, 1 Baramulla,” he tweeted.
However, officials later clarified that among the five fresh Covid-19 patients, three belong to district Budgam, one to Srinagar, while one is from government forces’ personnel.
They said there is no fresh coronavirus positive case from Baramulla.
Among the Budgam patients, one lives in Charar-i-Sharief, another in Pakherpora, and the third in Kanidajan, said Dr Khan.
Meanwhile, a faction of the Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) towards pointed towards the possibility of community transmission of Covid-19 in Kashmir.
Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan, president of the faction, said that community transmission means when a person contracts the virus from an unknown source. He said the need of the hour is swifter and wider testing that should not be limited to those who travelled abroad or their direct contacts.
“This would be important for determining if there is an actual case of community transmission that would allow us to take the right decision regarding our response going forward. The testing should be available for people who have severe respiratory illness and hospitalized patients with pneumonia irrespective of history of travel or contact,” Dr Hassan said.
“Right now, we have a very restrictive testing criterion. While the testing rate in South Korea is 6,931 tests per one million people, the testing rate in India is just 18 tests per million people,” said Dr Hassan.
However, Army in a statement denied that a soldier has been tested positive.

Manzoor ul-Hassan