SRINAGAR: In the biggest single-day jump, 620 people, including two newborns, tested positive for COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, taking the union territory's tally to over 4,000, officials said.
The Kashmir Valley reported 583 of the fresh cases, while 37 people tested positive for the disease in the Jammu region, they said.
Both the newborns, a one-day-old and another three-day-old, and their mothers were admitted to GB Pant Hospital hereafter they tested positive for the dreaded disease, the official said.
With the fresh cases, the total number of COVID-19 patients in the union territory has gone up to 4,087-- 3,198 are in Kashmir and 889 in the Jammu region.
The virus has claimed 41 lives in J&K. Till now, the union territory had been witnessing an increase of little over 100 cases in one day and at times even below that.
However, on Sunday, Kulgam district in south Kashmir alone reported 161 cases, followed by Baramulla in north Kashmir (132), Srinagar (87), Pulwama (60) and Anantnag (59).
Hospitals in Srinagar district are facing the maximum load of patients as many cases are being referred here from other districts of the Kashmir Valley.
As the union territory prepares for a calibrated exit from the lockdown by easing more restrictions, the administration dropped Kathua and Samba districts in Jammu region from the list of red zones, while Poonch and Rajouri lost their green tags.
The four districts are now included in the list of orange zones.
An order issued by Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said there were nine districts in the red zone -- Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Baramulla and Kupwara in Kashmir, and Ramban in Jammu region.
Ganderbal and Bandipora in Kashmir and Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Reasi, Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region are in the orange category.
Doda and Kishtwar districts in the Chenab valley in the Jammu region continue to remain under the green list, the order read.
It said Kathua district's Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir along the Jammu-Pathankot highway, will be a red zone with a 500 meter buffer.
The order said the classification of the districts was done for implementing the lockdown relaxations from Monday after a detailed review of the current situation.