Of late, there has been a consistent spike in the number of coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last five days till June 2, over seven hundred cases were added up alone to the tally which is fasting nearing 3000-mark. With 34 people succumbing to the disease, there has been a silver lining is that J&K’s fatality rate remains lowest among the few states or UTs in the country. It otherwise means that while the virus is spreading fast, it is not leading to as many deaths as elsewhere. Having said so, the situation continues to be worrying. Jammu and Kashmir is opening up but the worrying part remains the pace with which activities are resuming. Should shops and other activities open with such rapidity is something for the government to decide immediately even as all experts agree that it could lead to a sharp increase in the number of cases.
The surge in cases will make the process of contact tracing, which is pivotal to the treatment protocol and in ensuring that the rate of transmission is restricted, far harder. It will also strain the health infrastructure and many vulnerable may succumb easily to the disease, some without even counting in the official tally as regards the covid-19 victims.
While the government has remained in denial and continues to be so, there are enough signs that it has reached the stage of community transmission. To be sure, it becomes imperative that the government finds out the linkage of each and every case, be it travel history, likely exposure and all those allied things. In April, the ICMR and Indian Health Ministry researchers — some of them are national task force members for COVID-19 — in a journal paper, provided some evidence suggesting the prevalence of community transmission in 36 districts across 15 States. However, things would get clearer as surveys including in some districts of J&K are underway. Here members of Government Medical College Srinagar are involved.
Given the situation which has been thrown by the novel virus, both government and people need to be better prepared. Authorities need to continue testing more and more people and must be rigorous with tracing and keep on focusing on measures that will keep the death toll low. People shall exercise great care when they step out, maintain physical distancing norms, wear masks, and avoid all unnecessary activities. It seems time ahead would be difficult and being prepared remains the only option when vaccines and medication against the pathogen remain distant.
Covid-19 Surge: Stem Resumption Pace
