With Srinagar routinely reporting the highest number of daily COVID- 19 19 cases among all districts in Jammu and Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Aijaz Asad expressed concern on Wednesday that the district could become a virus hotspot in the pandemic's likely third wave.
Official data reveal that Srinagar witnessed a 63 % spike in the daily reported COVID-19 cases in the last week. As per the data, the district reported 46 cases on September 7 which jumped to 75 on Tuesday.
More importantly, Srinagar has been consistently reporting majority of the virus cases among districts on a daily basis.
DC Srinagar, while briefing reporters about the COVID-19 situation in the district, said that the recent spike in the cases was because of recent religious congregations held in different localities across the district.
“The recent spike in the cases has been specifically reported in the areas where the congregations were held. There has been a four-fold increase in the cases there,” DC Srinagar said.
Aijaz said that of the 88 COVID-19 containment zones in the district in total, 22 were declared last week only.
“55-60 percent daily reported cases in J&K are from Srinagar. I won't hesitate in saying that if we don't adhere to COVID sops, Srinagar will emerge as the hotspot of a possible 3rd wave and it will bring a bad name to the district,” The DC Srinagar remarked.
He appealed people to strictly follow COVID Appropriate Behavior including mask wearing and social distancing besides taking the COVID-19 vaccination in order to contain further disease spread.
