Anantnag: With only two Covid related deaths in March, both of them in Jammu division, and just two people admitted to hospital for the infection, Jammu and Kashmir is almost at the end of the third wave of the pandemic.
Though 133 people are still active for the infection in J&K, other numbers suggest there is not much to worry about. In the month of March, a total of 523 fresh cases have been added to the overall tally of infections in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Which is negligible given what we have witnessed in January and then February across Jammu and Kashmir,” a senior official in the administration, privy to the data on Covid-19, told Kashmir Reader.
Of these new infections, 253 have been reported from Kashmir division, while 270 have been reported from Jammu. Also, Jammu continues to lead on the death count for another month.
“There have been no deaths in the Kashmir division. Both the deaths reported this month have taken place in the Jammu division,” the official said.
With the decreasing numbers, there has also been a considerable decrease in the daily positivity rates across the union territory. On March 18, only 15 fresh cases were reported while over 36,000 tests were conducted.
“The daily positivity rate has now been reduced to 0.04 percent, which is way lower than what we had even in the last week of February,” the official said. The heartening thing is, despite the over hundred active positive cases the hospitalization rate is almost negligible, with only two of the 4838 Covid dedicated beds being occupied.
This essentially translates into a hospitalisation rate of 0.04 percent, the lowest in this year. Besides, many districts have gone Covid free, with no fresh cases in March and no active positive cases as well.
Shopian district in south Kashmir is again the first district to become Covid free in Kashmir valley with no active positive cases and no fresh infections reported in the month of March.
“An even more heartening picture comes from Anantnag, which has a population almost matching the most populous Srinagar district. Only one fresh infection has been reported in the district this month,” the official said.
Pulwama and Kulgam are other districts to fare well in the numbers, with only 5 and 4 infections being reported this month, in that order. Srinagar continues to be the worst affected even as the numbers plunge, with 138 fresh infections reported thus far.
“Srinagar constitutes more than 54 percent of all infections in March, here in Kashmir valley. But I don’t think it is something to worry about because that has been the pattern throughout the pandemic,” the official said.
With alarms being raised about a possible fourth wave in June, people are getting a well-deserved breather for now.

Suhail A Shah