2456 new COVID19 cases, 5 deaths in J&K

Srinagar, Jan 14: Continuing the spike in fresh cases, J&K recorded 2456 positive cases on Friday as five more deaths were attributed to COVID19 in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases in the UT crossed 10,000, however, most having mild symptoms, the health department said.

On Friday, the number of active cases in J&K reached 10003, the highest in the past seven months. However, the J&K Government has said that the rate of hospitalisation is low and currently, only 5.4 percent of the beds reserved for the pandemic were occupied, the remaining 94.6 percent of beds vacant.

Prof S Saleem Khan, Head Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at GMC Srinagar today said that most people testing positive for COVID19 are asymptomatic. He said that the number of people testing positive was high but the actual number of positive cases could be higher if all the contacts of the cases are tested. “As per the fresh ICMR guidelines, not every contact needs to get tested, as long as they are asymptomatic,” he said. He said the number of asymptomatic cases was “much more” in comparison to the first and the second wave. “There is an exponential rise in the positive percentage and this is going to rise in the coming days,” he said.

Prof Khan said the number of positive cases could cross 5000 in the coming few days and it could not be said with certainty what the peak case number could be. “However, all we can do at this time is follow COVID19 appropriate behavior,” he said.

Today, five people were reported to have lost lives due to COVID19 in J&K. Of the casualties, three were from Jammu division and two were from Kashmir division. The deceased included a 28 year old woman from Anantnag who was admitted at SMHS Hospital Srinagar. The death toll reached 4557 today.

In the past 24 hours, 68803 tests were carried out across the UT of which 2456 tested positive. The positive percentage of the samples today was 3.5, more than double the positive percentage of samples four days ago, when it was just 1.5 percent.

Of the new cases, 588 were in Jammu district, 464 in Srinagar district and 457 in Baramulla district. Cases increased in district Budgam where 139 people tested positive, 104 in Kupwara, 101 in Anantnag, 120 in Kulgam and 90 in Reasi. Today, 72309 doses of COVID19 vaccine were administered in the UT.