J&K’s daily cases cross 1,000-mark after six months

Jammu and Kashmir’s Covid cases on Saturday crossed another high when it recorded 1,005 novel coronavirus infections, a record daily count after October 02, taking the Union Territory’s case tally to 1, 37,475, health officials said

Jammu and Kashmir’s Covid cases on Saturday crossed another high when it recorded 1,005 novel coronavirus infections, a record daily count after October 02, taking the Union Territory’s case tally to 1, 37,475, health officials said.

A medic wearing a PPE kit takes a nasal sample of a passenger for the COVID-19 testing amid the rise in cases, at Jammu Railway Station in Jammu on Saturday. (ANI)

For the past four days, the UT has recorded above 800 cases, the highest daily count in six months.

The UT also recorded six fresh fatalities – one in Kashmir and five in Jammu division – taking the total death toll to 2,029.

Of the new cases, 706 are from Kashmir division while 299 are from Jammu. Of the day’s cases, 154 are travellers.

J&K had an all-time high of 1,698 daily cases on September 12, 2020. On October 02, the UT had recorded 1,090 infections.

Officials said with 492 cases, Srinagar had the highest number of new infections, followed by 183 in Jammu district, 93 in Baramulla, 58 in Reasi and 32 in Anantnag. Eight out of 20 districts reported single-digit cases while no case was reported in Kishtwar district.

The number of active cases, which has been rising steadily since March reached 6, 755, officials said. Since February 09, when active cases were at the lowest at 593, the UT has added 6,162 active cases in just two months.

On Saturday, 359 patients were discharged from various hospitals, including 257 from Kashmir and 102 from Jammu. As many as 1, 28,691 people have recovered so far, taking the recovery rate to 93.61 % from the highest of around 98% in the first fortnight of February. Over 6.45 million Covid-19 tests have been conducted in the Union territory so far.

In March, the UT had recorded 4,519 Covid-19 infections and 37 deaths. In February, there were 1, 935 cases and 21 deaths.

The peak of the first Covid wave was in September when the UT had witnessed 37, 372 cases and 478 deaths.