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Active Covid cases in Jammu and Kashmir dropped by 98% in February, shows data
From 36,372 active Covid cases on January 31 in Jammu and Kashmir, the number dropped to just 682 as the February ended — a fall of 98%
February recorded a significant improvement in Covid scenario in Jammu and Kashmir with active cases dropping by 98% and monthly test positivity rate by 79% as against January, when the third wave of pandemic had peaked.
From 36,372 active Covid cases on January 31, the number dropped to just 682 as the February ended — a fall of 98%.
The overall test positivity rate (TPR) in the union territory for January was 4.51%, which declined to 0.94% in February.
Week on week, the TPR showed continuous dip in February from 2.34% in week one to 0.14% in week four.
“Third wave is already over by a week. We are getting very small number of sporadic cases. Overall TPR has gone down to the base line and we are in the post-third wave phase,” said Prof Dr Mohammad Salim Khan, head of the department of community medicine at Government Medical College, Srinagar, and nodal officer for Covid.
Overall monthly cases fell by 81% in February which recorded 17,572 Covid infections while the number was 94,135 in January – the second-highest monthly total after May 2021, which had seen 1.14 lakh cases and 1,625 deaths when the second wave had peaked.
The death rate in the third wave was on the lower side with 74 fatalities in February and 146 in January. On an average, February saw 627 daily cases while it was 3,036 in January.
Covid cases had breached all records since the pandemic started, recording the highest of 6,570 infections and 14 deaths on January 25.
However, the cases declined considerably after that with the union territory recording lowest daily infection tally in 21 months with just 42 cases and no death on February 28.
An analysis of the daily Covid data shows that such low cases were witnessed in May 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning to wreak havoc across Jammu and Kashmir like the rest of the world.
Only three districts out of 20 have over 100 active cases now – 168 in Jammu, 140 in Srinagar and 113 in Doda (by March 1)
The data also reveals that there was a slight fall in testing rates in February with 18.64 lakh tests being conducted while 20.8 lakh tests were done in January.
As against 67,274 average tests daily in January, the figure was 66,588 in February. Before January, the average testing numbers were below 55,000.
Experts hope that the pandemic won’t worsen from now on and the life will gradually return to normal.
“Usually, pandemics in past have at the most remained for two years. With time, variants become more infective, but less virulent which we saw in the third wave. Let’s hope that the situation doesn’t deteriorate again. Let’s start our routines and make good the losses, particularly in education sector,” Dr Khan said.
At 36, UT sees lowest daily tally since May 2020
Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 36 fresh Covid cases, lowest daily tally since May 2020, besides no death related to the disease for the seventh day, an official health bulletin said.
An analysis of the daily Covid data shows that such low cases were witnessed in May 2020.
When the first wave had ebbed in February 2021, the lowest daily total of 43 cases was recorded in the union territory on February 8, 2021. As the second wave ebbed, the region saw the lowest of 51 cases on October 15, 2021.
The third wave of Covid, which peaked in January, has now got over with below-100 daily cases for the past week.
As many as 123 patients recovered on Wednesday, prompting the active cases to drop to 527.
Officials said 37,337 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours in the UT.
As many as 18 infections were reported each in Kashmir and Jammu divisions.
Except Srinagar and Jammu districts with 13 and 11 cases respectively, other 18 districts of J&K recorded either zero or single-digit infections.
Health officials said that out of the 4,838 beds dedicated for Covid patients, just 19 are occupied in J&K.
The overall number of people who have recovered reached 4,47,813, while the recovery rate stood at 98.82%.
The total cases in J&K have mounted to 4,53,088 while the death toll remained at 4,748 on Wednesday.
‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday said it has left no stone unturned in its endeavour to vaccinate the eligible population across the UT.
In this direction, the government initiated house-to-house campaign, Har Ghar Dastak, to inoculate the entire eligible population. The campaign launched in November last year focuses on coverage of all unvaccinated people, besides ensuring sensitisation regarding importance of Covid-appropriate behaviour and masks, said a spokesperson.
Under this campaign, specific focus has also been laid to step up the targeted delivery of healthcare schemes for the poor and ensure 100% saturation of eligible beneficiaries in a mission mode.
This door-to-door campaign also focuses on achieving 100% enrolment under Ayushman Bharat scheme. To achieve maximum results, the healthcare workers travelled the length and breadth of the region to cover each and every individual of the UT.
J&K has been a front-runner among the states and UTs in vaccinating the eligible population with the Covid vaccine. As on date, the administration has administered 2,15,14,865 doses of Covid vaccine, said the spokesperson.
