Nowgam, Kharpora worst hit with 62 and 17 cases

Anantnag: The last district in south Kashmir to register a Covid-19 positive case, Anantnag has since then witnessed a steady growth in the last fifteen days. With an addition of 12 new cases on Friday, the total has now reached 95.
The district has even surpassed Shopian district in South Kashmir (total cases 76), which was earlier considered to be the Covid-19 hotspot of the region.
The first case in the district was found in Chek-i-Wangund village of Dooru area on April 16. While the area was declared a red-zone and has witnessed only two more cases thus far, other areas in the district have reported a significant number of positive cases.
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Since April 16 there has been an average increase of 5.8 cases in the district every day.
“As of now there are six affected areas in the district, including Nowgam of Shangus and the adjoining areas, Karpora in Larnoo area, Khiram, Chek-i-Wangund, Aswara and Kadipora in main town Anantnag,” a senior official in the district administration said while providing details.
Of these areas, the Nowgam belt is the worst affected with 62 cases out of the total 98 in the district. Kashmir Reader had earlier reported that the second case (patient-2) detected in Nowgam (the first in Nowgam) could turn out to be a super spreader.
“And that is exactly what has happened. Almost all the people detected positive in Nowgam belt have been contacts of this patient-2,” the official said. “There was rigorous contact tracing carried out in the area soon after the first case was reported.”
The next worst-hit area is Kharpora in Larnoo where 17 people have been tested positive so far, the official told Kashmir Reader. He said that the patient-2 had contact history in Kharpora as well.
The official maintained that several hundred test reports remain pending as of now and new samples were being sent for tests on daily basis.
“There is supposed to be a further spike in number of positive cases in the district, as the testing has been rigorous and more people have been put into quarantine, administrative or at home,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the restrictions to impose a lockdown in Anantnag district have been intensified.

Suhail A Shah