Shopian: The situation in Shopian district has considerably improved in the past week with only 36 new cases reported. The number of active cases has also reduced to 117 in the district which was the first south Kashmir district where Covid-19 cases were reported.
So far, the novel coronavirus has taken 25 lives and infected 1529 people in the district.
The decline in number of cases has brought hope among the people that the virus may be soon gone from the district. However, chief medical officer Shopian Dr Ramesh cautions that following advisories and safety measures is still vital.
“One shouldn’t get over-enthusiastic till the time when there are no new cases at all for a week,” he said, adding that for now wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and avoiding gatherings is a must.
Officials said that 17,224 tests have been conducted in the district which is 4.92 percent of the district’s population, which is around 3.5 lakh. With 25 deaths reported officially, the fatality rate is at 1.63 percent.
Dr Ramesh said that 1580 samples were tested in the past week. Of these, 940 samples were tested at designated laboratories while 640 with rapid antigen tests. “Among 36 cases reported in last one week, 20 were reported from designated labs and 16 through rapid testing,” Dr Ramesh said.
He added that asymptomatic patients are being put in home quarantine.

Raashid Hassan