Anantnag: The deadly second wave of Covid-19 in Kashmir seems to be long over, in everyone’s eyes. Hospital bed occupancy has come down to 1.6 percent, with only 57 Covid patients admitted across the 25 hospitals designated for treatment of the disease in Kashmir division.

All is not well, though. The numbers have been rising, slightly, but rising nevertheless.

In the middle of August, the daily cases fell to as low as 50 but now the cases have been on a rise.

“If you see, we recorded 104 cases on August 25, 100 on August 26, and 84 Thursday. The cases are rising without a doubt,” the official said, appealing that everyone should follow the protocol to prevent further spread of the infection.

But people do not seem to be taking any heed as no one seems to be wearing a mask, leave alone observing social distancing norms.

“While the numbers have come down steeply, the trickle has been consistent,” the official said, “None of the ten districts has been declared Covid free yet,” he pointed out.

Even Shopian district, which was the first to be Covid-free in the first wave, is reporting cases on a regular basis. “The district as of today has 6 active cases and there is no reason we can sit back and relax,” the official said.

Active cases have also been more or less steady throughout. On August 1, there were 744 active cases and on August 26, the number stands at 722, despite declining to 500 levels in the middle of the month.

The ten districts of Kashmir division have recorded 1,967 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the month of August so far, while 5 people have died of the infection during this period.

There has also been no change in the recovery rate, which has remained steady at 98.5 percent throughout the month of August.

Kashmir is into the 17th month of the pandemic and an average of over 12,000 cases has been reported each month.

“In comparison, August has been a quiet month vis-a-vis fresh Covid cases,” the official said.

Suhail A Shah