Jammu leading in deaths, Kashmir in infections

SRINAGAR: Over the last few weeks, Jammu division has witnessed more deaths than Kashmir even though the Valley is leading in infections, official data shows.

In the first five days of May, the UT has recorded at least 20,500 cases, of which 13,800 (67%) were reported in Kashmir and 6,600(32%) in Jammu.

In the same period, J&K lost 228 people to the virus, of which 82 (36%) were in Kashmir and 146 (64%) in Jammu.

“In the last fortnight, Covidrelated deaths in Jammu have been more than Kashmir. There may be multiple reasons for this and a threadbare analysis is required to come to a conclusion,” said Dr Rajiv Gupta,head community medicine, Government Medical College, Jammu.

In April, of approximately 45,000 cases, the highest monthly total since the pandemic outbreak in the UT, Kashmir had reported 28,500 casesand Jammu 16,500.

Of the 289 people who succumbed to Covid in April, 136 were in Kashmir and 153 in Jammu. Gupta said one of the reasons for more fatalities in Jammu was people’s hesitance to report to hospitals on time.

“Because of social stigma, people reach hospitals after their oxygen levels have dropped significantly. This shows that the people of Kashmir report to health care facilities immediately,” he said. However, the overall Covid scenario is worse in Kashmir than Jammu. The overall cases till May 5 were 1,96,585 – 120,405 in Kashmir and 76,180 in Jammu. Of 2,510 fatalities, 1476 were recorded in Kashmir and 1,034 in Jammu division.