KO Photo By Abid Bhat
Srinagar- The third wave of Coronavirus continues to tighten its grip over Jammu and Kashmir as 2456 more people on Friday tested positive for the virus, the highest spike in daily cases in the recent months, while five more people succumbed to the deadly infection in the Union Territory during the last 24 hours.
According to the officials, 1522 fresh cases of novel Coronavirus were registered in Kashmir Valley and 934 from different districts of Jammu division, taking the total number of people infected since the outbreak of pandemic in J&K to 352623.
In the Valley, officials said, Srinagar detected the highest 464 new cases of virus, followed by Baramulla with 457, Budgam 139, Kulgam 120, Kupwara 104, Anantnag 101, Bandipora 95, Pulwama 22, Ganderbal 12 and Shopian 8.
In the winter capital, officials said, Jammu reported a maximum 588 cases, Reasi 90, Udhampur 55, Kathua 52, Poonch 49, Kishtwar 33, Rajouri 29, Doda 18, Samba 16 and Ramban 4.
“Moreover, 380more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals including 211 from Jammu Division and169 from Kashmir Division,” the officials said.
Also, they said that five more Coronavirus infected people, three from Jammu and two from Kashmir, succumbed to the deadly infection during the last 24 hours. With these deaths, the fatality count in pandemic has reached 4557 in J&K—2216 in Jammu and 2341 in Kashmir—have died due to the virus, they said.
The officials said that no new cases of Mucormycosis have been reported on Friday, thus the total number of confirmed cases remains 51 across J&K.
Moreover, the officials said that against the availability of 4794 dedicated level 1 & level 2 COVID beds, only 260 ( 5.4%) are occupied.
10 Fold Increase In Last Ten Days: Govt
The Jammu and Kashmir administration meanwhile said on Friday that the Coronavirus cases have witnessed 10-fold increase in the last ten days necessitating strict observance of Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB), COVID SOPs and protocols and curtailment of unnecessary movement by the general public.
These details were shared in a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta on Friday to review the rising COVID cases in Jammu and Kashmir and directed observance of strict containment protocols to effectively reduce the rate of transmission, an official spokesperson said.
In the meeting, he said, it was informed that the COVID cases in Jammu and Kashmir have risen by 10 times over the past 10 days, which has necessitated strict observance of CAB, COVID SOPs and protocols and curtailment of unnecessary movement by the general public.
The Chief Secretary, he said, appealed to the general public to act responsibly during the third wave of the pandemic and avoid unnecessary and non-essential movement, especially during the weekend, and prevent further surge in cases.
Emphasizing that Omicron has a growth advantage over the delta variant, Mehta, as per the official spokesperson impressed upon the divisional and district administrations to ensure fool-proof enforcement of all COVID protocols and SOPs.
The Chief Secretary, he said, directed mass scale awareness campaign for promoting the district COVID helpline numbers for seeking medical assistance through tele-consultations and re-activation of block-level COVID medical grid to provide isolation facilities at Panchayat level, primary medical assistance at primary health care centres, and referral to district ad tertiary healthcare facilities in cases of emergencies.
“The district administrations were directed to enhance their testing figures including RtPCR testing and expedite identification, isolation and micro- containment of the infection, besides speeding up vaccination drive in the 15-17 age category which is currently at 40%. They were asked to complete the vaccination in this age category within one week by raising the number of vaccination sites and decentralising the process,” the official spokesperson said.
He said that Mehta asked the Health & Medical Education Department to prioritize administering booster doses in vulnerable populations through the continuing ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign.
“Moreover, the Revenue, Police and Health Departments were directed to vaccinate the frontline workers, healthcare workers and volunteers with the third precautionary dose,” he added.
According to the official spokesperson, the Chief Secretary directed the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Director SKIMS, Director General, Family Welfare, MCH & Immunization, and Principal GMC Srinagar to regularly give media briefings on the mitigation measures, current trajectory of the disease and suitably address the public concerns on the matter.
Administrative Secretaries of the departments of Finance, Health & Medical Education, Home, MD, National Health Mission, Director General, Family Health, Divisional Commissioners Kashmir/ Jammu, Inspectors General of Police Kashmir/Jammu, and Deputy Commissioners and District SPs were present in the meeting.
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