Anantnag: Pulwama district in south Kashmir has witnessed a surge in number of Covid-19 positive cases in the last seven days, even as the other three districts in the region have seen a slowing down of the numbers in the same period.
Between July 16 and 22, the number of new Covid-19 cases recorded in Pulwama district has been 358, considerably higher than the other three districts, in the same time – Anantnag (170), Kulgam (164) and Shopian (270).
The district is also just a little shy of matching the number of cases in other districts of the region. Pulwama, as on July 22, has a total of 1072 cases, Kulgam has 1248 cases, Anantnag 1098, and Shopian 1184.
“We just have to go a little back to understand the surge Pulwama has witnessed. On July 13, just ten days back, Pulwama had only 662 total positive cases, while Kulgam district had already crossed the 1k mark and stood at 1021 cases on that particular day,” a senior official, privy to the figures, told Kashmir Reader.
He said that the other two districts, Anantnag and Shopian, were also way ahead of Pulwama on July 13. “Shopian had 918 total cases on July 13 and Anantnag 802,” he said.
While the other three districts have seen addition to their numbers since July 13, the numbers in Pulwama district have swelled during the same time period in comparison.
The official added that the number of deaths caused by the virus has also doubled in Pulwama district in the last 10 days. At present the death toll in Pulwama stands at 14, which was only 7 on July 13.
“The trend is obviously worrying, particularly given the fact that Pulwama district has been under lockdown during this period. The restrictions in the district were, on July 18, extended till July 25 by the district administration,” the official said.
The surge in Pulwama district is all the more worrying as the number of cases initially were in small numbers, with the district even being declared “COVID free” on April 22.
However, only 6 days later, on April 28, a fresh case was detected in the district.
“The number of fresh cases still remained lower than the other districts in south Kashmir and other districts of the valley in general. This sudden uptick should worry us all,” the official said.
Kashmir Reader tried to talk to Deputy Commissioner Pulwama Dr Raghav Langer, but he did not answer his phone and ignored the texts sent by this reporter.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Pulwama, Dr Haseena Mir, attributed the surge to increased testing in the district.
“We have upped the testing rate and hence the numbers have increased. There is no other reason,” the CMO maintained.

Suhail A Shah