Covid-19 mortality continues to surge in J&K as 65 deaths reported

For the second consecutive day, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 65 deaths due to Covid-19 on Tuesday which is the highest ever fatalities on a single day.

Official data shows that out of 65 Covid patients who died in the last 24 hours in the Union Territory (UT), 46 were from Jammu region and 19 from Kashmir valley. The UT also reported 4,509 cases during the day, taking the total tally to 2,29,407 while total death toll has reached 2,912.

Out of the total Covid cases reported today, Kashmir clocked 2,644 infection cases and Jammu 1,708. The mortality rate due to Covid has witnessed an upsurge in the recent weeks with most of the deaths being reported from the Jammu division. In the last 12 days, J&K has reported over 639 deaths.

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Srinagar again topped the list of major contributors in J&K. The summer capital reported 863 infection cases, taking the total number of Covid cases reported in the district to 55,544, of which 44,150 have recovered while 10,755 are active.

The total number of active cases in the UT is 51,542, of which Kashmir has 33,104 and Jammu division 18,438. J&K administration has designated 5,090 beds in 25 health institutions across J&K and currently 3,159 Covid patients are admitted, 2,737 are on oxygen support and 135 on ventilator support.

However the number of recoveries has shown a gradual increase in the UT. On Wednesday 3,603 persons recovered from Covid-19 taking the total number of recoveries recorded so far in J&K to 1,74,953. On Tuesday 3,537 patients had recovered from Covid-19.

The big jumps in cases and mortality continues amid lockdown across J&K since April 29.

Jammu and Kashmir is among the highest Covid-19 case density areas in the country which is over 18,000 cases per million of the population. According to the 2011 census, J&K’s population is 1.25 crore.

The national average per million population so far is over 16,800. With poor health infrastructure and climatic conditions Valley also becomes one of the most high-risk zones for the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus outbreak was reported in Jammu and Kashmir on 7 March 2020, when two persons tested positive for the deadly infection. The peak of the first wave was September 12 when 1,698 cases were reported.

Meanwhile, a day after several areas in Kashmir witnessed a huge rush of people ahead of Eid festival, curfew-like restrictions were imposed in the valley on Wednesday as authorities enforced the lockdown put in place to contain an alarming surge in coronavirus cases in the UT.