COVID-19: First batch of 9,600 rapid test kits arrive in Jammu and Kashmir; total cases rise to 350

SRINAGAR: Kashmir has received the first batch of 9,600 rapid test kits as the valley is trying to ramp up testing in its fight to contain the spread of COVID-19, officials said on Sunday.

The rapid test kits help examine whether a person has developed antibodies in their blood stream to fight the novel coronavirus, which indicates whether a person has been exposed to or has COVID-19.

The results of these tests take around 30 minutes.

Doctors and healthcare workers can then determine the number of people who could be infected in a population sample.

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The kits would be used in the 83 red zones in the valley on a priority basis to help the administration expand the testing in these designated areas, the officials said.

"We have received the first batch of 9,600 rapid testing kits," Director, Health Services, Kashmir, Dr Samir Mattoo told PTI.

Mattoo said the kits were being dispatched to red zones in the valley and it would be distributed to each such containment zone.

The kits provide the results on the spot and would cut the time taken to determine the results, he said.

The process will be hastened as these kits provide the results in about half-an-hour only, the director added.

Health officials said the rapid testing kits would help in expanding the testing in the areas designated as red zones.

These kits would first be used to test people in each red zone and would also be used to test the frontline health workers, the officials said.

"Afterwards, the testing areas will be increased with the increase in the number of kits," they added.

Jammu and Kashmir has so far reported 350 cases of coronavirus with five fatalities.

(With inputs from ENS)