Nearly 300 people died due to COVID19 in October across J&K, the respiratory disease continuing to kill people across age groups. Today four people, two of them less than 40 years of age, lost life after contracting the infection.
October saw a decrease in the positive percentage of samples, in comparison with September. In the month just gone by, 681179 people were tested for COVID19. Of these, 19715 were confirmed to be infected. The percentage of samples found positive, out of the total tested thus has been 2.8.
In September, nearly the same number of samples was tested (656363 total), of which 37372 were found positive. The number of positives and the positive percentage of September have been double that of October, official data reveals.
The rise in cases in Kashmir division is higher than that of Jammu. While 11197 new cases came to fore in Kashmir in September, in Jammu division, 8518 people tested positive.
The viral disease killed 297 people across J&K in October – 144 in Kashmir and 153 in Jammu. Although the absolute number of confirmed cases in the past month has been lower in Jammu, the division has suffered more in terms of fatalities caused by SARS-CoV2.
However today, the number of deaths were more in Kashmir division than in Jammu division. Three people were reported to have lost life in Kashmir, after they had tested positive. These included a 35 year old male from Ganderbal admitted at SKIMS Soura. The patient was known to be suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and a fortnight ago was admitted to the hospital with bilateral pneumonia, a doctor working at the hospital said. He said the patient’s underlying disease made the viral infection fatal for him. “He lost the battle late last night.”
A 40-year old female from Eidgah Srinagar, admitted at the same hospital also succumbed hours later. She was also suffering from CKD, the doctor said adding that the patient was admitted with COVID19 pneumonia. Another CKD patient, a 60 year old female from Litter Pulwama lost life at her home, four days after she had tested positive.
Cumulative cases reached 94325 with 540 cases added today. Among the new cases, 369 were from Kashmir division and 171 were from Jammu division.
In Kashmir 134 people that tested positive were symptomatic, a health official said. He said 41 samples had been randomly taken while 82 were contacts of known cases. The cases included 77 people aged 60 years and above, the oldest being a 92 year old. 16 children aged less than 14 years, the youngest a one year old were also confirmed to be infected, the health official said.
Baramulla today surpassed Budgam in terms of total cases reported. The district had 87 cases, while Srinagar had 153. Jammu district had 108 new cases.