54 MORE DEATHS, 5,190 FRESH CASES IN J&K

SRINAGAR: As many as 54 people lost their lives to Covid-19 and 5,190 fresh infections were reported in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, taking the overall death toll to 2,726 and total case tally to 2.16 lakh.

Of the new cases, 3,420 are from Kashmir while 1,770 are from Jammu, besides 98 travellers. Of the 54 deaths in the UT, 32 were reported in Jammu division and 22 in Kashmir. So far, 444 people have died of the disease this month in the UT. The month of April had recorded the highest monthly case tally of 45,123 infections and 289 deaths this year as against 4,519 cases and 37 deaths in March.

Officials said with 920 cases, Srinagar had the highest number of new infections, followed by 658 in Jammu district, 508 in Budgam, 454 in Baramulla, 277 in Kupwara and 252 in Kathua.

The number of active cases has reached 49,248, the officials said. Most of these cases were added after February 9, when the UT had the lowest active case tally of 593.

Some 2,423 patients have recovered, including 1,799 from Kashmir and 624 from Jammu.

As many as 1,64,958 people have recovered so far, taking the recovery rate to 76.04% against 98% in the first fortnight of February. Over 7.65 million tests have been conducted in the UT so far. Meanwhile, lieutenant governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level meeting of the Covid Task Force for a detailed assessment of the district-wise Covid scenario and containment measures.