SRINAGAR: The Srinagar district administration on Saturday decided to impose a fine and conduct a rapid antigen test on all persons found without a mask in public places amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Aijaz Asad chaired a meeting of administrative and medical officers of the district regarding the containment of coronavirus here.
While emphasising strict implementation of COVID appropriate SOPs, Asad, who took over as deputy commissioner earlier this week, said those found roaming at public places without masks shall be fined and subject to Rapid Antigen Testing in the interest of the community at large.
The directive has come in the wake of Srinagar topping the daily new COVID cases in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly a month now.
The district has been contributing almost 50 per cent of the daily cases in the Union Territory.
Asad said while the daily new cases in the district was around 30 per day earlier, it has now gone up to 70 per day now.
He said the recent spike in the positive cases is a matter of serious concern and adequate administrative as well as medical measures are required to remind the public that the deadly virus has not vanished yet instead various strands of the virus have emerged all over the world.