Anantnag: Covid-19 positive cases in Kashmir valley have just about doubled in the past one month, but Srinagar district has witnessed a fivefold spike in the same time frame, much higher than the national rate in which the number of cases has tripled during this period.
The real worry, however, is the death rate, which has increased by about 4 times across the ten districts of the valley, an official told Kashmir Reader while making comparisons of figures from June 24 to July 24.
Srinagar, on June 24, had only 752 Covid-19 positive cases. “The number now is 3,648. Which essentially means that there has been a jump of a little less than 5 times,” the official informed.
The official said that this was the highest jump among the districts in Kashmir, and a couple of notches higher than the national increase in the number of cases. “On June 24 the number of cases across India stood at 4.4 lakh, and the number now is over 13 lakh. The cases have only tripled, but in Srinagar the scenario is much worse.”
Apart from Srinagar, Ganderbal district has also been on the wrong side of the curve during the past one month. Even though the cumulative number of cases in the district is still small at 309, it is four times than what it was on June 24 (76).
“Yes, the number is still way below what other districts have. What, however, should worry us is the rate at which the numbers have increased,” the official said.
Pulwama district in south Kashmir has been another district where the spike has been steep during the past one month. The number of positive cases here has gone up from 387 to 1,132 in this period.
“The only glimmer of hope amid all this has been Anantnag district, where the cases have not even doubled in the past one month,” the official told Kashmir Reader. He informed that the district had 622 cases on June 24 and now has 1,131. “How and why cannot be said but the figures speak for themselves,” the officials said.
While the spike in cases is being managed through isolation and whatever treatment remains available as of now, the real cause of worry is the number of deaths caused by the lethal virus.
The worst affected, Srinagar district, has seen the number of deaths rise by four times since June 24.
“21 people had lost their lives to the virus in Srinagar district by June 24, but the number now is 82,” the official said, adding that the number of deaths has increased across the ten districts of the valley.
In Ganderbal district, no one had died of the virus by June 24. Now, 5 people have already succumbed.
“In Bandipora, only one person had lost his life to the virus by June 24 but now the number is 7, which means a 7-fold increase. Same is true for Pulwama district where the number of deaths has gone from 4 to 16 in the same time frame,” the official said.
The other districts look equally affected, with number of deaths in Baramulla increasing more than 4 times. Kupwara, Budgam and even the otherwise well-doing Anantnag district have had their number of casualties up by more than three times during this period.
A fresh lockdown has been imposed now almost across the valley. Whether the lockdown suffices to bring down the number of cases, and more importantly, the number of deaths, is a thing to keep watch on.

Suhail A Shah