CRPF man among 7 new Covid-19 deaths in J&K, toll 195

A CRPF man was among seven more people who died due to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir taking the total deaths related to novel coronavirus in the Union Territory to 195.

Officials said that seven patients who died include a 35-year-old CRPF man, who died at SMHS hospital, a 60-year-old male from Baramulla, a 65-year-old male from Shopian, a 47-year-old man from Jammu and three 60-year-old males from Baramulla and Anantnag districts.

Dr Nazir Choudhary, Medical Superintendent at SMHS said the CRPF man of 66 Bn CRPF, who was admitted on Monday, died a few hours later. “His sample was taken and results came positive on Tuesday afternoon,” he said.

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Meanwhile, as the government re-imposed lockdown in many parts of Kashmir from Monday amidst a spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths, experts believe the worsened scenario is due to the apathy towards masks and social distancing norms.

From 18 March, when the first case was reported from Kashmir, till June 8 when Unlock-I started, the valley had reported 3,363 Covid-19 positive cases. Just over a month later, on July 14, the number of cases in Kashmir has crossed 11,100. 177 deaths have also taken place in Kashmir, 85 of them in the past two weeks.

As many as 346 cases of Covid-19 were recorded in J&K on Tuesday, while 128 people were declared recovered. The total number of reported cases here reached 11,173 with these positives.

Srinagar district has contributed the most number of cases since 30 June and 14 July. 994 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Srinagar followed by Baramulla with 477 and Kulgam with 197 positives during this time.

Covid-19, as per health department advisories, can prove lethal to people aged over 60, pregnant women, those with hypertension, diabetes and other comorbid conditions. However, official data from J&K has shown that about 20 percent of deaths have taken place in people who had no underlying disease or condition. Many of them were young individuals.