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Jammy and Kashmir presses for booster dose as Covid cases rise by 250% in 10 days
Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta emphasised on administering Covid vaccine’s booster vaccination doses against the eligible population
Prompted by a 250% increase in Covid cases over the past 10 days, Jammu and Kashmir administration has directed health officials to start administering booster doses of the vaccine in the union territory on a war footing.
Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Monday held a meeting with health officials, doctors and heads of government medical colleges, wherein he emphasised on administering booster vaccination doses against the eligible population.
“The chief secretary directed the concerned officers to frame a comprehensive strategy to gear up their efforts and saturate the targeted groups of vulnerable population and organise systematic vaccination drives for prompt booster vaccination of the remaining segment,” a government statement read.
Highlighting the importance of the booster dose, Mehta said, “The booster dose was essential for all eligible populations. The remaining population should be contacted and a time slot be fixed to administer doses to them within the set deadlines,”
‘Take precautions without being scared unnecessarily’
He also directed the officers concerned to spread information among people about the current Covid variant having a lower mortality rate, adding that precautions needed to be taken without need of being “scared unnecessarily”.
During the meeting, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) director Parvaiz Ahmad Koul spoke about the current status of the pandemic and the measures that were in place to stop the spread of virus, saying only four Covid positive patients are presently under observation at SKIMS and were recovering well.
“The current trend shows low mortality, but there is need to be prepared in all respects,” he added.
Covid’s recent surge
The union territory reported 3,953 fresh infections between July 16 to 25, a big jump from the 1,130 cases recorded between July 6 to 15, an analysis of daily official health data revealed. Another ten days back in the timeline, between June 26 to July 5., the figure stood at a lowly 733
Overall, a total of 5,816 cases were reported in the past 30 days, of which 68% infections were seen in the last 10 days. The positivity rate conducted in the period has also gone up to 3.17% for the 1,24,401 tests, up from 1.11% for the 1,01,125 tests between July 6-15.
The active cases crossed 3,300 on July 25 in the union territory from being below 60 in the first week of June. Most of these have been reported in the twin cities of Jammu (1,135) and Srinagar (1,072), followed by 280 in Baramulla and 124 in Udhampur districts. Eight deaths have been reported this month – seven of them in the Jammu division.
Himachal reports 986 fresh Covid infections
Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday recorded 986 fresh Covid infections — the highest single-day spike in the current wave. The new cases pushed the state’s overall tally to 2,95,674.
The death toll also climbed to 4,137 after one patient died of the contagion.
Kangra led with the highest 265 cases, followed by 177 from Mandi, 132 from Shimla, 78 from Hamirpur, 67 from Bilaspur, 65 from Chamba, 57 from Kullu, 53 from Sirmaur, 36 from Solan, 35 from Una, 12 from Kinnaur and the lowest at nine new infections from Lahaul-Spiti.
The active cases in the state stand at 4,541.
(with inputs from Shimla)
