Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, July 15: The deadly COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in Jammu and Kashmir UT in the last fortnight as the virus has claimed 105 lives in JK of which 99 were reported in the Valley alone and rest in Jammu.
Official data available with KNO reveals that more than 50 percent deaths related to COVID-19 were witnessed in last 15 days in Jammu and Kashmir.
“In the first 115 days (from March 08-June 30), 101 Covid-19 deaths were witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir, 89 in Kashmir and 12 in Jammu division,” the data reveals.
Till July 1, 88.11 percent deaths were recorded in Kashmir while 11.89 percent were reported in Jammu division. “From July 1 to July 15, 105 COVID-19 deaths were witnessed in J&K which is around 51 percent of the total deaths,” the data adds.
Among 105 deaths in the ongoing month, 99 were from Kashmir while only six were from Jammu division which means 94.99 percent of Covid related deaths witnessed in J&K were from Kashmir while 5.01 percent are from Jammu division.
Overall out of 206 deaths related to Covid-19 in J&K since the outbreak of pandemic, 188 are from Kashmir while as 18 are from Jammu division, officials said.
“So the share of deaths of Kashmir division is 91.26 percent and share of deaths related to Covid-19 of division Jammu is 8.7 percent,” the figures reveal. “Till Tuesday (July 14) evening, out of total 11173 positive cases, 8785 were from Kashmir division while as 2388 were from Jammu division.
“So the share of Kashmir division in total positive cases is 78.62 percent while as 21.37 percent are from Jammu division,” the figures state.
The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020. The virus, originated from Wuhan, China.
Slowly, the pandemic spread to various states and union territories including the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Two suspected cases with high virus load were detected and isolated on March 4, at Government Medical College, Jammu. One of them became the first confirmed positive case on March 9. Both individuals had a travel history to Iran.
