Srinagar, May 6 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday set up two triage centres in Srinagar for effective and judicious use of beds in tertiary care hospitals in view of rising COVID-19 cases.

The move comes as the recent surge in the coronavirus cases has resulted in an increase in bed occupancy rates at the facilities.

"It is hereby ordered that two triage centres shall be established at NIT Srinagar and SKIMS Bemina, which shall act as first contact points for COVID patients in Srinagar," Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P K Pole said in an order.

Patients will be assessed at the triage centres before being admitted to tertiary care hospitals, it added.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in April.

Srinagar city was hit hard after it opened for tourism in the last week of March and early April. This resulted in an exponential increase in the number of cases.

The union territory has been recording over 4,000 new cases every day now, with over 1,000 from Srinagar.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)