60 lose battle for life on J&K’s deadliest-ever pandemic day
SRINAGAR: As many as 60 people lost their lives to Covid-19 on Saturday, marking the deadliest day of the pandemic since its start in the UT last year, taking the overall death toll to 2,672.
The daily spike in UT was recorded at 4,788 cases, taking the number of people who have been infected so far to 2,11,742. Of the new cases, 3,259 are from Kashmir while 1,529 are from Jammu, besides 51 travellers.
Of the 60 deaths in the UT, 42 were reported in the Jammu division and 18 in Kashmir. So far, 390 people have died of the disease this month in the UT.
The month of April recorded the highest monthly case tally of 45,123 infections and 289 deaths, as against 4,519 cases and 37 deaths in March this year.
Associate professor of medicine at the Government Medical College, Srinagar, Dr Muzaffar Maqbool, said, “More than 80% Covid positive patients, either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, are being treated at home. However, it is imperative to keep tab on the oxygen saturation level, which should not fall below 93%.” “In case a patient feels difficulty breathing or there is an increase in fever, they should be taken to a nearby health institute or triage centre for screening and required treatment. Decrease in oxygen saturation, pain in chest and increase in fever demonstrate that it is the time for hospitalisation,” he said.
Most new cases added after February 9
Officials said with 853 cases, Srinagar has the highest number of new infections, followed by 634 in Jammu district, 573 in Anantnag, 470 in Baramulla, 444 in Budgam and 325 in Pulwama. The number of active cases has reached 46,535, the officials added.
Most of these cases have been added after February 9, when the UT had the lowest active case tally of 593. Some 2,500 patients have recovered, including 1,590 from Kashmir and 910 from Jammu. As many as 1,62,535 people have recovered so far, taking the recovery rate to 76.76% against 98% in the first fortnight of February.
Over 7.6 million tests have been conducted in the UT so far. Divisional commissioner, Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole, during a visit to south Kashmir, said, “The administration has put in place all requisite facilities including oxygen supply to deal with any emergent situation that may arise due to the second wave.” He urged people to adhere to Covid related SOPs and guidelines in letter and spirit. “Collectively we can overcome this pandemic,” he said.
Srinagar and Jammu districts have together contributed about 91,000 cases and 1,238 deaths of the total. For the first time this week since the pandemic began, the Jammu district has taken over as the one with the highest number of fatalities (636) followed by Srinagar with 602 deaths.