COVID-19: Spike in deaths send alarm bells ringing in Kashmir


Afaq Bhat

Srinagar, July 2: Jammu and Kashmir recording eleven COVID-19 deaths in a day on Thursday have sent alarm bells ringing. Of the 11 people 10 died in Kashmir and one in Jammu.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “The spike in deaths is a serious concern. This needs to be addressed. Authorities will have to change their strategy to control the increase in number of positive cases and the deaths.”
He said, “Experts and medicos have already predicted that the COVID-19 cases will peak in July month and the authorities should be ready. Lifting of lockdown has led to increase in the cases as people have started moving around. There are reports that COVID protocol is being violated and people are not following the guidelines like wearing masks and following social distancing. This has also led to the spike in numbers.”
According to the medicos mostly elderly people with underlying health conditions are getting hit due to COVID-19. “Elderly people should stay at home. By venturing out they are risking their lives as the virus is becoming deadly with each passing day. Precautions only can save us till some medicine or vaccine comes,” said a medico.
He said, “Entire medical fraternity is trying its best to save the precious human lives but in absence of any specific treatment we have become handicapped. We cannot fix any deadline for COVID to go as it has assumed alarming proportions. The government has to look for a new strategy to save people.”
An observer said, “Imposing lockdown once again is no solution. This will once again push people towards the edge and lead to confusion. Rapid Testing Kits need to be made available in the open market at an affordable cost. Once these kits become available it will help people in knowing their status. Till vaccine or any specific medicine is found to treat this deadly virus testing is the only solution.”
It’s in place to mention here that Remdesivir, the first approved drug to treat Covid-19 patients, has sparked an unsavoury controversy due to the ‘inordinately’ high price. The drug, patented by the US pharma giant-Gilead, costs $2350 (Rs. 178,000) per 5-day course when the actual production cost is merely $5, according to Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University. This is in addition to all other costs including hospitalisation.
More importantly, the drug, which has been under stringent trials for the past five months since the pandemic spiralled beyond control, will remain elusive to the entire world except for the US which has bought up virtually entire stocks for the next three months.

 

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