E-Paper
140 more test Covid positive, 1 dies in J&K
Officials said that as many as 115 positive cases, including 33 travellers, were reported from Kashmir division while 25 from Jammu division.
Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 140 fresh coronavirus infections, the highest daily tally in the past two and a half months, taking the total cases to 1,28,097 while the death toll reached 1,978 with one death in Kashmir division.
Officials said that as many as 115 positive cases, including 33 travellers, were reported from Kashmir division while 25 from Jammu division.
Since Wednesday, Kashmir has been witnessing over 100 daily cases. Previously, it was on January 3 that the valley had reported 103 cases.
Moreover, 74 more Covid-19 patients recovered, including 58 in Kashmir and 16 in Jammu division.
So far, 1,25,046 people have recuperated in the UT, taking the recovery rate to 97.61%. There are now 1,073 active cases while the total number of tests conducted has crossed 56.63 lakh.
Kashmir division has 829 active cases, including 536 in Srinagar district alone. There are 244 active cases in Jammu division. As many as 1,247 people have succumbed to the disease in Kashmir and 731 in Jammu.
In Kashmir, the highest jump in fresh cases was witnessed in Srinagar, where 75 more people tested positive, including 28 travellers, while 17 cases were reported in Baramulla. In Jammu division, 20 cases were recorded in Jammu district.
The active cases in Jammu and Kashmir crossed 1,000 again on Wednesday for the first time since January 27. The UT has added 480 active cases since February 9, 2021, when this figure was 593 — the lowest since May, 2020.
Chief secy urges people to get vaccinated quickly
Amid the surge in Covid cases, J&K chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam on Thursday urged the people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
He was chairing the third meeting of the UT steering committee to review the progress of Covid-19 vaccination drives that were rolled out in January.
It was informed that so far 77% of healthcare workers, 78% of frontline workers, and 12.28% of elderly people and co-morbid patients, totalling 4,39,910, have been vaccinated in J&K with no reported case of extreme adversity. Arrangements have also been put in place for on-spot registration and inoculation of the remaining healthcare and frontline workers.
Moreover, Covid vaccination centres (CVCs) in the UT are being gradually enhanced to 3,034, including 34 private centres. All the CVCs will be connected through 873 cold chain points with a total vaccine storage capacity of over 50 lakh doses and vaccination capacity of 3 lakh doses per day. The vaccines are being administered free of cost at all government CVCs and at private centres against the payment of ₹250 per dose.
