Srinagar: Amid slight surge in COVID-19 cases in different parts of the country, Kashmir-based doctors advised people to remain cautious and follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).
As per the doctors, the COVID-19 cases in Kashmir are very less compared to the other parts of the country.
“J&K is still in a safe zone,” they said.
According to the official data accessed by Greater Kashmir, from March 15 to March 27, over 82 COVID-19 cases were registered in Srinagar district hospitals, which are under Directorate of Health Services Kashmir (DHSK). At Chest Disease (CD) Hospital, Srinagar three COVID-19 cases were registered while over 100 cases of patients infected with Influenza virus were registered in the last three months.
However, SKIMS, Soura has received seven cases of COVID-19 patients in the last month.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Head of the Department (HoD) at CD Hospital, Dr Naveed Nazir Shah said, “Unlike other states of the country, J&K is still in a safe zone as we do not see any dramatic surge in the COVID-19 cases here.”
He said that the hospital was testing the patients continuously but there were more cases of Influenza than COVID-19.
“Besides, patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19 were registered and they were treated in the OPD although there was no need to admit them,” Dr Shah said.
He said that the patients, especially those who have comorbidities should wear masks and avoid gatherings.
“People should follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour. In the previous waves, most of the COVID-19 patients had travel histories. So, we cannot take it lightly. If people have upper respiratory infection, they should isolate themselves,” Dr Shah said. Medical Superintendent, SKIMS, Dr Farooq Jan told Greater Kashmir that they received only seven cases of COVID-19.
“We do not have many cases at SKIMS. So far, in the last month, we have admitted seven patients who were infected with COVID-19. We are still in a safe zone,” he said.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, DHSK Srinagar spokesperson Dr Mir Mushtaq said, “The COVID-19 situation in Kashmir is stable as of now.”
He said that Influenza is very common, so people should not panic but maintain hygiene, wear masks, and keeping social distance is still important.
“We have to remain cautious and monitor the situation. Our hospitals have sufficient oxygen facilities and bed capacity,” Dr Mushtaq said. The Union Health Ministry released a new set of guidelines for states and Union Territories (UTs) to curb the transmission of the virus.
“States and UTs must keep a close watch on the evolving etiologies (causes of diseases) which is Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases. India usually sees a seasonal rise in Influenza cases from January to March and again from August to October. Presently, the most prominent subtypes of Influenza in circulation in the country seem to be Influenza A (H1N1) and Influenza A (H3N2),” the advisory reads.
There are a few states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu that have reported the maximum number of COVID-19 cases in the country but hospitalisation in these states remains low.