Shopian: The numbers may be increasing everywhere, but they are declining in Shopian. This south Kashmir district has done a remarkable turnaround in dealing with Covid-19, from once being the district with the highest number of cases to becoming the one with the lowest.
According to health officials, the last Covid related death here was reported on September 16, that too of a person who was under treatment since two months after getting injured in a road accident at Galander area in Pulwama district.
Doctors in Shopian believe that Covid19 could have been spread in the community by mid July, but since then that spread has been contained. “It is true that there was breakout of flu and fever in the month of July and most of people didn’t report it. It could be the reason that people have recovered from the infection and now the district is witnessing least number of cases,” said senior doctor Muhammad Yousuf Naikoo, who is also block medical officer (BMO) Shopian.
He said that very few people are now testing positive even though random tests are being conducted at government offices and the fruit mandi where hundreds of traders gather.
“We were initially reporting the most number of cases despite the district having the lowest population among districts of Kashmir,” Dr Naikoo pointed out.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Shopian, Dr Ramesh, told Kashmir Reader that a total 29,970 tests have been conducted so far in the district. He said that 1900 people were found positive and 30 deaths and 1701 recoveries have taken place so far.
He informed that the number of active cases is now 169. “During the past one month, three deaths (related to Covid-19) have been reported from the district,” he said.
According to official data, about 8.5 percent people from the district have been tested for the novel coronavirus and among the infected, the recovery rate is more than 90 percent.
The death rate, according to official figures, is 1.57 percent.
The chief medical officer added that there is no question of defective testing. “We are receiving the same kits as other districts do and the tests are being done in the same labs where tests of other districts are done,” he said.

Raashid Hassan