Anantnag: As the number of infections has been coming down, February has also witnessed a decline in the daily Covid test positivity rate in Jammu and Kashmir compared to the month of January. The drop in positivity rates is quite significant when compared to the mid and latter part of January.
On February 3, a total of 1,982 fresh cases were detected across Jammu and Kashmir – 649 from Jammu division and 1,288 in the ten districts of Kashmir valley. These numbers are against the 78, 473 tests conducted in the union territory in the last 24 hours, as per the information department statistics.
“The numbers suggest that we have a positivity rate of around 2.5 percent,” an official, privy to the numbers, told Kashmir Reader, “It is way below the positivity rate in the middle of January when more than 4.5 percent of those tested came out to be positive for the infection,” he said.
A further look at the numbers reveals that the rate has been on a constant decline in February so far. On the first day of the month, the positivity rate was around 3.7 percent, not far from what the rate was in mid-January.
“On the second day of the month, the positivity rate came down to just 2.9 percent, and then to 2.5 percent. It is indeed a welcome development,” the official said.
The positivity rate, however, is still way higher than it was at the start of the last month. On January 1, the positivity rate was a meager 0.25 percent. “There is a huge gap that needs to be closed so that we are back to where we were in December or in November,” the official said.
Besides, the hospitalisation rate still continues to be on the higher side compared to what it was at the beginning of the last month and the middle of it. At present, 429 of the 5,038 Covid beds remain occupied in the union territory, amounting to a hospitalisation rate of 8.51 percent.
“If you see, there has been a downfall in such rates. On January 1 it was 9.74 percent, and on the next day it came fractionally down to 9.24 percent,” the official said. “However, when we compare it to the last month, it’s still high. The hospitalisation rate in the middle of January was around 7 percent only.”
Also, the deaths have been on the higher side. Jammu and Kashmir have reported 25 deaths in the first three days of February, which is a huge cause of concern.
“The numbers show that while we are progressing towards better days, more caution needs to be taken. People in no case whatsoever should stop adhering to Covid Appropriate Behaviour,” the official insisted.

Suhail A Shah