E-Paper
Jammu and Kashmir saw lowest Covid cases in 8 months in October
Jammu and Kashmir logged 2,724 Covid infections in October, which is the lowest since February, when the first wave had receded and just 1,935 cases were reported
Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir logged 2,724 Covid infections in October, the lowest in the last eight months.
This is lowest since February, when the first wave had receded and just 1,935 cases were reported.
These two months have reported the lowest cases since March and April last year when the pandemic had started and 614 cases had been recorded cumulatively.
In September this year, around 4,011 infections had been reported from the union territory.
“There were apprehensions that the third wave might start by September 15. However, those predictions were wrong. God has been kind and there have been few Covid cases and deaths,” said Dr Owais H Dar, consultant at Government Medical College, Anantnag and former general secretary, Doctors’ Association of Kashmir.
The monthly deaths also remained low as 10 people have succumbed to the disease in October so far, the same as September. This is the lowest since March and April last year, where there were eight deaths cumulatively.
In February, when the first wave had subsided, 21 deaths were logged. In May, when the second wave was at its peak, 1,625 deaths were logged.
The UT saw 37 deaths in March, 289 in April, 1,625 in May, 416 in June, 55 in July, 30 in August and 10 in September.
Dr Dar said that there are multiple factors for Covid remaining under control in the union territory. “A lot of people got infected naturally in the first and second wave which increased the immunity among the community. Secondly, the vaccination drive was also rigorous. National and international travel is also limited and schools and colleges have mostly been closed which was one of the major factors of containment,” he said.
October’s test positivity rate (TPR) in J&K– the percentage of tests turning positive out of the total tests conducted – also dropped to 0.20% from 0.27% in September. If TPR is below 5%, it indicates that the infection is under control in the community.
October’s TPR is lowest since the second Covid wave peaked in May. In June, July and August, it was 1.80%, 0.32% and 0.23% respectively.
The average daily tests conducted in the union territory have been consistently reducing since July.
The data reveals that on an average 43,635 tests were conducted daily in October so far, against 49,374 daily tests in September, 53,359 in August and 56,719 in July.
Overall, the union territory conducted 13.09 lakh tests in October (till Oct 30), as against September when 14.81 lakh tests were carried out. In August, 16.54 lakh tests were conducted.
The vaccination drive over the past two months has been very rigorous. Around 65 lakh people have been vaccinated in J&K with one or both doses during this period.
Experts now hope that the Covid-19 may likely become a seasonal illness similar to flu thatpeaks in fall and winter and its impact in terms of deaths, illness and the need for social isolation will lessen.
“Covid-19 pandemic will end at some point, but the virus will continue to circulate in the human population. But, that will happen when the pandemic phase of the virus is over,” said influenza expert Dr Nisar Ul Hassan.
“Covid is still in a pandemic phase as infections continue to increase across the globe and many people are still susceptible. Vaccination is critical to end the pandemic phase of the virus,” he said.
In October, 31.56 lakh vaccine doses have been administered in the union territory till now. In September, over 33.78 lakh people were jabbed, 18.5 lakh in August, 16.76 lakh in July, 12.36 lakh in June and 9.49 lakh in May. Till October 30, the UT has administered a total of 1.459 doses.
The overall number of people who have recovered reached 3,26,836 prompting the recovery rate to reach 98.39%. Since the pandemic started, the overall cases in J&K have reached 3,32,154 and the death-toll has reached 4,432.
The Jammu district has the highest number of fatalities with 1,145, followed by Srinagar with 846 deaths.
