Staying home paid off: Over 100 people test negative for COVID in Tangmarg’s Solinda red zone

Srinagar: Amid gloom, a whiff of fresh air. More than 100 people screened for COVID-19 at Solinda red zone in Tangmarg have tested negative.

Solinda, a village in Tangmarg area with a population of 750 people, reported 15 positive cases after 52 -year-old man died of COVID 19.  

The village was declared a red zone by the administration and lockdown was strictly enforced to prevent community transmission.

After completing home quarantine for more than three weeks, the administration started conducting large scale tests in the village.

As per the officials, almost 100 tests have been conducted in the village in the last three days, which have shown no traces of infection.

“The villagers have observed lockdown in letter and spirit. They wouldn’t venture out and even suspended their agricultural activities. Around 48 people were screened on Friday, 32 on Saturday, 42 on Sunday and 19 on Monday. Fortunately, all tests came back negative,” officials said.

Sources said the administration would screen one person from every family in the first phase, which will be followed by another round of mass testing.

Sub District Magistrate, Tangmarg, Shabir-ul-Hassan told The Kashmir Monitor that they would screen almost 50 percent of the population of the village in the coming days.

“I think lockdown has some good impact on the village. Somehow it brought relief to the administration. We can’t predict anything till 150 more tests are conducted. At least 50 percent of the population has to undergo screening in the village,” he said.

The screening has brought relief to the people who for the last three weeks had confined themselves to their homes.

“People were very much worried as coronavirus cases had increased to 12. For the last three days, doctors have collected samples. People are relieved after the tests came back negative. We have now started working in our fields,” said Maqbool Ahmad a local resident.

The administration has followed a similar procedure in the nearby Katipora village where two cases of coronavirus were reported earlier this month.

“The village is also being monitored by our medical team. More tests will be conducted to know the quantum of the infection in the area,” an official said.