Kashmir gets 30,000 COVID-19 testing kits

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

An Indian military plane brought 30,000 Viral Transport Media (VTM) kits to Indian-administered Kashmir to ramp up testing for the coronavirus, an official said on Friday.

“30,000 VTMs land in Srinagar. Outstanding job by our Cargo team working round the clock,” Niraj Kumar, the additional resident commissioner in the region, said on Twitter.

Around 50,000 stranded people have returned home in the region after the government earlier this week decided to facilitate the movement of such people who were stuck in mainland India, the official added.

Meanwhile, the region on Friday reported 30 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total number to 1,003.

The administration has so far conducted over 70,306 tests for the virus.

The region has so far registered 11 deaths from the virus, while as many as 513 persons have recovered.

Disputed region

Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.