The Covid-19 pandemic curve has got steeper in Jammu and Kashmir since the UT administration began ending the lockdown on June 8 as over 72 percent of the nearly 15,000 positive cases have been recorded for the period.
In the 43-day-long Unlock 1.0 and Unlock 2.0 (till July 20), around 11,000 positive cases have been reported, while there has been a spike in the Covid-related deaths as well. The number of deaths went up to 255 on July 20 from 41 on June 7.
In J&K, the first positive case of Covid-19 was reported on March 8 and the UT did well (till June 7) for three months while taking all measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus as there were nearly 4,087 positive cases by that time.
“The UT reported first 1,000 cases on May 15 and this number doubled in the next 13 days on May 28. Thereafter, over 1,100 cases were recorded in just seven days. The rapid rise in positive cases was attributed to the entry of stranded residents of J&K into the UT,” an official of the Health Department said.
After the announcement of Unlock 1.0 on June 8, relaxations were followed in most of the areas outside the containment zones that resulted in a sharp rise in the cases. In the 26-day Unlock 1.0 (from June 8 to July 3), nearly 4,000 positive cases and 78 deaths were reported in J&K.
In the ongoing Unlock 2.0 (since July 4), there has been a major surge in cases as well as deaths related to the virus.
“J&K witnessed 136 deaths and over 6,600 positive cases in the ongoing Unlock 2.0 till yesterday. These 43 days of unlock period have been worst for the UT compared to the previous 90 days of the lockdown (between March 24 and June 7),” the official said, adding that “of over 10,500 positive cases in this period, around 2,000 were travellers who were evacuated and brought back to J&K from outside states.”
The official, however, attributed the spike in the cases to ramp up testing and aggressive contact tracing. “From March 6 to June 7, we had conducted 2.18 lakh tests, but this number now stands at 5.18 lakh (till July 20) which means we conducted 3 lakh tests since the government started giving relaxations to the people,” the official said.
The cumulative total of COVID19 cases in J&K crossed 15000 mark on Tuesday with 608 new cases.
As many as 15258 cases of COVID19 have been reported in J&K till date. Among these, the past 10 days have seen a rise of 5102 cases. Till 11 July, 445169 tests had been carried out and reported in J&K. The cumulative number of tests carried over the period of four months stood at 528946 according to information issued by J&K Government in its daily bulletin on COVID19. In the 10 days, 83777 tests have been carried out in J&K.
In addition to five designated labs in the Government sector, three private labs have been roped in by the Government to “reduce the pendency of samples” at some labs.
Among the 608 new cases, 502 were reported from Kashmir division, while 106 were reported from Jammu division.
26 pregnant women and six doctors were among the cases from Kashmir today.
Srinagar continued to lead in J&K in terms of new cases, total cases, active cases, recovered cases, as well as deaths related to COVID19. The district with highest population appeared to have low impact of COVID19 beginning June, but the cases started pouring since the second week of June, official data reveals.
The district’s cumulative total of reported cases reached 3283 on Tuesday, 213 of these new cases reported on the day. Currently, 1961 people from Srinagar, reported as positive for COVID19, are admitted at various facilities. Many of them, a doctor said, are in tertiary care hospitals due to severe symptoms. He said since the number of infected from the district was more, therefore, the proportion of severely sick cases and of deaths was expected to be more among Srinagar patients.
Over 35 people tested positive today in Srinagar were from various battalions of CRPF, a health official said.
From Budgam, 83 cases were reported on Tuesday, 20 of these had arrived in the district from Uttar Pradesh, an official said. He said the new cases were mostly non-local laborers. In addition, a number of people, many of them children, tested positive from Bonhama, Nagam, Chadoora, Sibugh and other areas in Budgam. The new positives were contacts of known cases, a health official said.
Kupwara has been having a rise in its cases this week. The total number of cases in the district reached 965 today. Of the 47 cases confirmed from the district on Tuesday, most were contacts of known cases. A health official said new cases emerged from Lolab, Karnah, Trehgam and some other areas. He said many samples from defense forces stationed in the district also tested positive for COVID19.
43 cases were confirmed from Pulwama today, while Kulgam had 39 cases. An official said that two of the cases from Kulgam were coming in from outside while 14 samples of service providers were positive.
Baramulla had 28 cases, Anantnag 26, Bandipora 14, Ganderbal 6 and Shopian 3.
Kashmir division’s total reached 12125 today while 3133 cases have been recorded in Jammu division. In Jammu, out of the 106 cases reported, 50 were people returning from outside.
The number of recovered patients reached 8455, 181 of these were discharged today.
