JOIN USIn April travelers, tourists constitute 21% of total Covid cases in J&K
As Covid-19 continues to see a steep rise in Jammu and Kashmir, the percentage of travelers testing positive on arrival in the Union Territory (UT) constitute 21 per cent of total cases reported in April.
22,986 persons have tested positive for novel coronavirus in J&K from April 1 to April 22 of which 4,620 are travelers and tourists who on arrival tested positive for the viral respiratory illness, official figures reveal.
Health experts say that the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and surge in the cases in J&K has coincided with the opening of the tourist spots since March. Two tourists – one from Maharashtra and another from Gujarat - have died of Covid-19 at the Chest Disease hospital of Srinagar in the past month. Both had tested negative on arrival at Srinagar Airport.
The increasing cases of travelers and tourists testing positive has forced the authorities to make testing mandatory for all inbound travelers.
A senior health department official said earlier there used to be testing for travelers at Srinagar Airport only, “but after we saw a trend of travelers reporting to test positive increasing, we have started testing travelers entering J&K through surface links as well.”
Lakhanpur, the gateway for Jammu and Kashmir has been declared as the red zone by the government and tests are being conducted for the people entering the UT. “The passengers who travel from any hotspot area go through an RT-PCR test, while others go through Rapid Antigen Test,” the official said.
On April 1, the total number of infection cases in the UT was 1,31,421 which has jumped to 1,54,407 on April 22. J&K reported its highest spike of 2204 cases on Wednesday.