Srinagar: Medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir have started epidemiological profiling of Covid-19 “hotspots” to identify the trail of infection and analyse possible inducing factors like demography and clinical background of Covid-19 positive patients, officials said.

They said the epidemiological analysis of Covid-19 hotspots will help the government devise an informed exit strategy from the lockdown.

The activity is being done by the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) comprising experts from departments of Community Medicine, Medicine, and Microbiology/ Pathology in each medical college.

“The government-run medical colleges have already formed Rapid Response Teams following the directions by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These teams will conduct proper contact tracing and analysis of distribution of coronavirus cases with respect to time, place and person,” said an official who is coordinating the activities of the medical colleges.

“The teams will help assess the impact of surveillance and devise interventions for breaking the chain of coronavirus transmission,” said a Jammu-based epidemiologist. “It will strengthen the contact tracing and help plan the strategy for containment in hotspots/ cluster zones.”

There has been a substantial rise in number of cases of Covid-19 in Jammu and Kashmir during the past one month. This has prompted the health ministry to issue directions for the epidemiological study, the Jammu-based epidemiologist said.

He added, “The pandemic is complex, so it is important that health institutions should come together for supporting the public health measures.”

Dr M Saleem Khan, who is in charge of one of the RRTs at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, told Kashmir Reader that the epidemiological profiling is a challenging task as it involves covering a vast area. However, he said, the demarcation of hotspots into different zones would make things easier.

“There are many areas which saw a sudden spurt of coronavirus cases and turned into hotspots, while many others remained limited. This survey will try to find the reasons behind the difference,” he said.

Manzoor ul-Hassan