Authorities deny reports of diversion of testing kits from Kashmir to Jammu

Srinagar: The authorities Thursday denied reports appearing in a section of media that consignment of test kits from ICMR meant for Srinagar were diverted to Jammu.
Quoting Dr Samia Rashid, Principal ,GMC, Srinagar, who confirmed that there is no truth in the news report that testing kit consignment was diverted to Jammu. She was quoted as saying that the consignment was first delivered in Jammu and the next day it was received in Srinagar.
Principal, Govt. Medical College Srinagar also asserted that there was no interruption in testing process because of any shortage of testing kits and that there were presently two testing centres in the valley at GMC Srinagar and SKIMS, Soura. She said the third testing centre is being established at Jhelum Valley Medical College, Bemina, shortly.
The doctors at SKIMS have also confirmed that they are not facing any shortage of test kits and have ramped up number the to 1000 tests per day.
It was clarified that Dr. Jitender Mehta, Divisional Officer, NHM has been actively involved in COVID mitigation and management and that he had arranged an engineer from Delhi for COVID testing Labs. The engineer was initially called for two days but with the persuasion of Dr Jitender Mehta he stayed in Srinagar for 5 days and calibrated 10 PCR machines with which the testing capacity has increased from around 200 to more than 800 tests per day. It was also made clear that Dr. Jitender Mehta had no role in the procurement process.
Speaking about the sample collection across the Kashmir, Dr. Samir Mattoo, Director Health Services, Kashmir, told news agencies that the department has been carrying out sample collection across the valley aggressively at designated sample collection centers. He also denied reports that sample collection had been affected due to shortage of testing kits.