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Updated: Mar 28, 2020 21:46 IST

Twelve more tested positive for coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the number of positive cases to 33, officials said on Saturday.

On Friday, six people had tested positive including four in Srinagar and two in Rajouri district. The number of cases testing positive on Saturday is the highest in the Union Territory for a single day. Meanwhile, the J&K government declared five villages in Rajouri as ‘red zones’ after two people who had participated in a religious gathering tested positive.

J&K government spokesman Rohit Kansal tweeted about the new positive cases in Kashmir.

“Hardly do I finish my press briefing - 28 cases- that I get more unpleasant news -5 new positive cases- 2 in Srinagar, 3 in Jammu- all contacts of previously positive ones; All Jammu cases asymptomatic. We are at 33 now,” government spokesman Rohit Kansal said in a tweet.

Earlier, in a video briefing, Kansal had confirmed that eight persons had tested positive for COVID 19 on Saturday.

“Five cases had a history of contact with already positive cases of the religious congregation while the other three had travel history outside J&K,” he said.

Former J&K chief minister, Omar Abdullah who was released recently after more than eight months also expressed concern over the growing number of positive cases.

“The number of positive #COVIDー19 cases in J&K is going up but it’s not too late to #FlattenTheCurve. All we have to do is follow the guidelines to maintain #SocialDistanacing & #StayAtHomeAndStaySafe. Please disclose your travel history & contacts to the authorities,” Omar tweeted on social media.

Most of the positive cases are contacts of a 65-year-old religious preacher from Srinagar who died on Thursday and another infected person who tested positive last week after returning from abroad.

So far 5763 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance. Meanwhile, all six samples tested in Ladakh were reported to be negative. From the past seven days, not a single positive case has been reported in Ladakh where 13 people had tested positive for coronavirus, two out of the infected have already recovered from the disease.