Screening of Rohingya Muslims for COVID-19 underway in Jammu; 12 samples taken for testing

Stepping up the COVID-19 screening of Rohingya Muslims living at various slums here, the Health Department in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday collected a dozen samples for testing, officials said.

The samples were taken randomly during screening of Rohingya Muslims residing at Kargil colony and Beeru plot in Bhatindi, a red zone, by a team of doctors deputed to check for the symptoms of coronavirus among the population, the officials said.

They said over 540 Rohingyas, settled in two plots, were screened since Saturday and all of them were found with no symptoms of COVID-19.

The screening process will continue to cover all the settlements housing the foreigners.

More than 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladesh nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts, where their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016, according to government data.

Earlier this month, 10 Rohingya Muslims from the area who had attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation in ..