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Experts divided as Srinagar’s daily cases hold steady for a week
The district, which is the worst-hit in the UT with 10,687 active infections, had witnessed a record breaking spurt in daily infections in May, with the daily cases going as high as 1,311 on May 4
With the daily average cases in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, hovering around 800 for a week, it appears that the infections in the district have plateaued out. However, experts remain divided.
The district, which is the worst-hit in the UT with 10,687 active infections, had witnessed a record breaking spurt in daily infections in May, with the daily cases going as high as 1,311 on May 4. However, after May 8, the daily cases have mostly been below 1,000 with an average 775 cases per day.
There has been an imperceptible change in the daily infections since May 11, with the district recording 846 cases on May 11, 863 on May 12, and 872 on May 13. Srinagar
clocked 115 deaths from May 1 to 13, of the total 685 fatalities in the UT.
Kashmir Doctors’ Association president Dr MY Tak said the declining numbers are a sign that Srinagar is hitting a plateau.
“The figures in the coming days will tell whether we have hit a plateau. However, we are hopeful as the cases have started declining. Cases in Delhi and UP had plateaued out a week back, we are achieving it now,” Tak said.
On whether the lockdown had been instrumental in bringing down the infections, Tak said the impact of the restrictions will manifest in around 10 days.
J&K has registered the highest cases and fatalities in the first 13 days of May, with 57,680 cases and 685 deaths, of which at least 13,000 have been reported from Srinagar.
Aabid Maqbool, president, Resident Doctors’ Association, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, said that it was premature to say that the cases in Srinagar had stabilised.
“There may be many factors at play for the apparent phenomenon. We are not sure if the tests are the same or have decreased. The lockdown restrictions have been enforced strictly and many people may not be getting themselves tested. It is a dynamic situation and it is premature to say we have hit a plateau,” he said.
Cautioning people against becoming lax, deputy commissioner Srinagar Ajaz Asad said, “371 Positive Cases in Srinagar today is the lowest in last 20 days. Still not a good data for good conclusion. Pl remember, the Virus loves to troll. Loves to ambush.”
Srinagar is J&K’s worst-affected district with overall 56,416 cases (till May 13) and 651 fatalities. Jammu comes at a close second with 42,442 cases, of which 7,589 are active and 758 fatalities. Jammu’s deaths surpassed Srinagar’s this month with the unusually high 280 fatalities in May.
“Srinagar’s population density is more and the movement of people is more. In fact cases and mortality in Srinagar was also more. Srinagar will tell us about how Covid is going to unfold in other places of J&K,” the DAK president Dr Tak said.
The administration has tightened the restrictions in the capital city after Eid and has installed roadblocks in many parts of the city to stop private transport from plying.
