J&K SAW 77% DIP IN COVID CASES IN JULY

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir’s Covid-19 cases in July dropped by 77% while deaths due to the disease decreased by 86% despite an increase of tests by 25% as compared to June.

Experts say the cases may continue to go down for a few weeks after which it may rise due to lifting of restrictions.

According to the official data, the UT recorded 5,800 infections and 55 deaths in July while in June, it had seen 25,197 cases and 416 deaths.

In July, there was a consistent decrease in test positivity rate (TPR) -- the percentage of tests that turn out to be positive out of the total tests conducted during the period.

Between July 1 and 10, the TPR stood at 0.46%, between July 11 and 20, it was at 0.28% and from July 21 and 31, the figure stood at 0.23%. The daily cases went below 100 after July 20 to a low of 63 on July 23 in the second wave.

However, in the past 10 days, the UT has seen a slight increase in cases. The TPR from July 25 to August 03 has seen a slight increase of 0.24%. Over the last 10 days, the daily cases have been fluctuating between 100 and 160.

Experts say the situation may remain like this for two to three weeks after which, the cases are expected to rise again as restrictions have been eased.

“We are exactly at the position where we were in February when the first wave had ebbed. The daily cases will hover around 100, sometimes 20 up and sometimes 20 down and this will change after two-three weeks when the cases will again rise,” said Dr Owais H Dar, general secretary of Doctors Association of Kashmir.