Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing rapid increase in COVID infection as the daily cases have increased from 100 to 1000 in just 25 days.
According to official data, in 2020 it took 100 days for the daily cases to increase from 100 to 1000. This year on 17 March over 100 COVID infection cases were reported in a day and by April 10 the daily number has increased to over 1000 plus.
As per the officials, the rate of doubling is much faster which underlines the need for proper adherence to COVID protocols.
On April 10, J&K for the first time reported over 1000 cases in this year.
Doctors Association of Kashmir has already warned that the second Covid-19 wave could be worse than the first wave. “Second waves of pandemics have been harsher,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
“We have witnessed in the past how the second wave of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was deadlier than the first one. The first wave occurred in the spring which was relatively mild. A far deadlier second wave erupted in the fall months which infected 500 million and killed 50 million people globally.”
“Covid-19 is following the same pattern. The second waves of coronavirus in the United States and Europe were worse than the first. Kashmir is currently under the grip of the second wave and the cases are rising and hospitalizations too,” he said. “If countermeasures are not put in place, we could end up having a situation which could be worse than what we saw last year.”
“This is because the vast majority of people in the valley is still susceptible to the virus and the virus will go where it is given room to run, and will find people who are vulnerable to infection,” Dr Nisar said. Critical care expert, Dr Showkat Shah said that the people are still being complacent and are not following the COVID protocols. “Government must act tough against the violators who are not wearing masks. Though on paper the government has announced that they would fine people without masks but on ground there is no implementation.”