Masks back in five Jammu and Kashmir districts amid Covid surge

Move to reintroduce masks comes after a five-month high of 333 fresh infections were reported Jammu and Kashmir on July 19

With Covid cases continuing an upward trend in Jammu and Kashmir, authorities have announced the decision to reintroduce masks in public spaces in five districts including in the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar.

Masks were reintroduced in five Jammu and Kashmir districts amid the latest Covid surge. (HT File)

The union territory on Tuesday saw 333 fresh Covid infections, reporting such numbers after a gap of over five months.

Amid the surge, the district disaster management authorities and deputy commissioners of districts including Srinagar, Jammu, Bandipora, Ramban and Ganderbal have made face masks and social distancing mandatory at public places in separate orders on Tuesday.

Speaking about the same Srinagar deputy commissioner Aijaz Asad on Wednesday said, “For the past few days, there has been a spike in Covid cases. We need to be more cautious in view of the spike and indulge in Covid-appropriate behaviour.”

“After facing a number of waves, everybody now knows about the precautions. People should wear masks in public places to save themselves as the cases are increasing,” he added.

Jammu disaster management authority chairperson Avny Lavasa, meanwhile, also advised schools, colleges, multiplexes, hotels and banks to adhere to the guidelines and advisories in an order reading, “All district and sectoral officers shall ensure usage of face masks by all officers and officials in their respective offices.”

Doctors’ body cautions against creating panic

Cautioning against the creation of unnecessary panic, the Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK), said the Covid case count was irrelevant as the same was not leading to more hospitalisations in the current scenario. The association appealed to the public to not panic.

The association president and an influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan said the case count was used as a metric early in the pandemic as a rise in the cases inevitably led to an increase in hospitalisation and deaths at the time. He, however, was quick to point out that the situation has changed since, adding with widespread immunity in the general population due to vaccination and natural immunity, most infections are mild.

“It is time for us to stop worrying about cases and shift our focus on hospitalisation which is miniscule at this point in time. Relying on case numbers as the metric to decide mitigations will trap us forever,” he said.

The association president said Covid has entered into an endemic stage and the rise and fall in cases was going to be a routine process. “It has become yet another infection joining many other diseases that we have learned to live with,” he added.

In the past week of July 13 to 19, the Covid infections have doubled to 1,366 from 676 in the week before. The active cases tally had also crossed 1,400 on July 19 in the union territory, a massive jump from being below 60 in the first week of June.

Of the active cases, Jammu has reported 640, followed by Srinagar’s 464. A total of five deaths have been reported this month — all in the district of Jammu.

(with inputs from Jammu)