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Virus cases in Srinagar on the decline for 4 days
On May 4, the capital had witnessed the highest 1,311 infections which had plunged to 853 on Saturday, 920 on Sunday and 701 on Monday, the lowest in the past two weeks
The last four days have given people and officials in Srinagar, the district worst-affected by the Covid pandemic, a glimmer of hope as the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir has consistently recorded less than 1,000 cases after a record spike in daily infections from May 1 to 7.
On the first week of May, Srinagar had seen 7,930 cases (an average 1,130 cases per day) while the district saw a total 3,320 cases between May 8 and 11 (an average 830 cases per day).
On May 4, the capital had witnessed the highest 1,311 infections which had plunged to 853 on Saturday, 920 on Sunday and 701 on Monday, the lowest in the past two weeks.
Srinagar deputy commissioner Aijaz Asad had tweeted, “701 positive cases in Srinagar (on Monday) is the lowest figure in the last 2 weeks at the same/ higher testing rate. Still not a good data for a good conclusion. The virus is preying on all atoms of the human body. Please adhere to SOPs.”
The slight relative decline in Covid cases in Srinagar came after 10 days of a lockdown which was imposed in the worst affected districts of the UT on April 29 and has now been extended to all the 20 districts till May 17.
Dr M Salim Khan, head of community medicine and nodal officer Covid at Government Medical College, Srinagar, said that he did not believe that the actual cases were reducing. “The low cases in these three days is due to low testing. Also, there were three official holidays prompting people to stay at home. When few patients approach hospitals only then can we say that cases have reduced,” he said.
HT could not get the data on the number of tests conducted in the district during this period. However the number of tests across the UT remained more or less same in the past week, except on Monday, which saw an around 15 % reduction in the number of tests against the average 44,000-45000 tests being conducted per day over the week.
Srinagar is J&K’s worst-affected district with 53,800 cases, of which 11,150 are active and 622 fatalities. Jammu comes at a close second with 40,600 cases, of which 7,600 are active and 686 fatalities.
The UT will be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr on Friday, subject to the appearance of the moon, amid the Covid curfew. This will be for the third year in a row that the people of Kashmir will be celebrating Eid under restrictions.
The district administration in Srinagar has allowed bakery, vegetable, meat and chicken outlets to operate from 8am to 12pm from Tuesday ahead of the festival. But it has vowed to enforce the restrictions strictly to avoid crowding.
“Coronavirus is illiterate, unlettered, visually impaired, hard of hearing (and) unimpassioned. It doesn’t differentiate between festive and non-festive days,” Asad said.
The government officials in the district have also been asked to acquire curfew passes. “Movement of government officials shall be facilitated through a pass system from tomorrow. All heads of departments are requested to kindly place requisition for passes immediately,” a spokesperson said.
