There seems to be no let-up in the number of COVID19 positive cases in Srinagar as the district has recorded 1945 positive cases in 12 days post lockdown.
Interestingly, the percentage of transmission of viral illness in other districts is far below than that of Srinagar.
The district administration here had imposed restrictions after a large number of cases was reported from Srinagar; later the lockdown was lifted in the district from August 16.
According to official figures, on August 15, the number of COVID positive cases in Srinagar was 6790 which has increased to 8735 till August 27.
A senior health official said the percentage of travelers is less than 10 out of total number of COVID cases detected in the last 12 days in Srinagar. “It signifies that the percentage of transmission of COVID is much higher in Srinagar than other districts in Kashmir.”
Health experts blamed the ‘complacency’ among the Srinagar residents for the rise in COVID positive cases. “The marriage ceremonies are going on as usual, there is non-adherence of protocols, less than 20 percent people wear masks. All these factors contribute to an increasing number of COVID cases.”
An official said: “Jammu district too is densely populated but there you get on an average 50 cases and in Srinagar the average in the past few days was 180 cases per day.”
However, the officials said that the highest number of tests is done in Srinagar district. “In Srinagar on an average 1800 tests are done a day. Besides we do aggressive contact tracing here.”
OSD, Directorate of Health Services Kashmir, Dr. Qazi Haroon said: “Number of positive cases is highest in Srinagar which means that people are not observing social distancing, wearing masks and following guidelines,”
Srinagar being the commercial hub of Kashmir, inflow of people from other districts here is being seen as another reason for rising number of positive cases. “Srinagar has three times more the population than some other districts in Kashmir. Besides, it is congested and gets high flow of people from other districts as a result of which the cases in Srinagar are much higher,” Dr Rouf Hussain Rather, In-charge Data Analysis section at Divisional Covid-19 Control Room Kashmir.