3 pregnant women among 160 test positive

Srinagar: Weeks before they were expected to deliver, 13 pregnant women in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district tested positive for the COVID-19 virus on Saturday.

Seven of them were residents of a COVID-19 hotspot, leading to fears over community transmission in the area.

The 13 women were among 160 new novel coronavirus cases detected across J&K over the past two days; Saturday recorded 108 cases, the biggest single-day spike in new cases since the outbreak began.

Overall, 1,180 cases have been reported from J&K, with 13 deaths linked to the virus; a 27-year-old woman died in Srinagar today.

"Of the 12 pregnant women who tested positive, seven are from one particular area that has already been designated a "red zone". Areas around this have been declared "buffer zones".

We have to determine whether, in such areas, there is community spread," Dr Naveed Shah, a doctor at Srinagar's Government Chest Disease Hospital, said.