5,000 'desperately required' Covid-19 test kits ‘mysteriously’ diverted in IOK

Following the development health officials stop taking samples from suspected coronavirus patients in Occupied Kashmir

Health officials in Indian Occupied Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) stopped taking samples from suspected coronavirus patients after a senior official 'mysteriously' diverted 5,000 test kits to Jammu.

Indian newspaper The Hindu reported that a senior health official bypassed the orders and diverted a Srinagar-bound consignment of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), carrying the kits.

The report quoting official sources said that the alarm was raised by top health officials in Srinagar when a cargo plane arrived in Srinagar Tuesday morning and failed to deliver the testing kits “desperately required in the valley”.



“It’s being looked into if it was a goof-up or a deliberate attempt,” an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The newspaper said that it was only following the intervention of Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam that 4,000 test kits were airlifted from Jammu to Srinagar around 4pm on Tuesday.

The report quoting sources said that Jitendra Mehta of the National Health Mission, who advises Divisional Commissioner Pandurang K. Pole on procurements, diverted the testing kits.

IOJ&K recorded 22 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, pushing the total to at least 300.

The story originally appeared in The Hindu