COVID-19: Indian variant behind rising death toll in Jammu: Central team of Doctors

Srinagar, May 17, 2021: A central team of doctors deputed by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Monday said that Indian variant is more infectious and is among the main reasons behind the increasing death toll in Jammu division.

The team, which was on two-day visit to Jammu to assess the reasons of rising Corona deaths, comprising of Dr Pranay Verma, Joint Director, Epidemiology, National Center of Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, Dr Mahesh Waghmare, Microbiology Department, NCDC Delhi and Dr Navneet Sharma, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh accompanied by Dr Chaudhary Yaseen NHM Director and other officials said that besides UK and SA variant, Indian variant popularly known Indian Double cases are found in Jammu.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the team said that it is one of the main causes behind the rising death toll in Jammu division.

Dr Mahesh on the occasion said that lockdown will help in breaking the chain but people aren’t following Covid appropriate behavior properly and they must follow the SOPs in letter and spirit to combat the virus.

He said the public and government must cooperate and work in tandem in order to combat the virus. “We are even witnessing the mortality rate of around 20 to 30 percent among the patients who are being admitted among the COVID positive patients.”

He said that other reasons of high mortality are that people don’t go for testing on time and are delaying hospitalization unnecessarily.

He said that separate genome sequencing is being conducted on samples of Covid positive patients admitted at GMC Jammu to check the possibility of other reasons behind the rising death toll.

Among the samples in which mutation was confirmed, Indian variant is prevalent and among 38 percent of samples it was found in the month of April, he said.

He said that amid the sudden surge, the government is coping up; however, the people are still callous towards the Covid SOPs.

NHM Director Dr Yaseen (IAS) on the occasion said that nobody in J&K has died for the want of oxygen or ICU beds. He said tests are being conducted at doorstep and “we are trying to increase the bed occupancy at Covid care centres as few Covid positive people aren’t following Covid appropriately when they are asked to remain in home isolation.”

“We are using every medium to inform and educate people about Covid-19.”

Members of the central medical committee said that law enforcement officers must remain strict and active so that there won’t be any gathering anywhere.

Earlier, the team went to Government Medical College, Hospital, Bakshi Nagar, Jammu where they held a meeting with all heads of departments of medical college, Covid wards doctors including the Principal, Medical College, Dr Shashi Sudan to find out why more deaths are in Jammu province.

The Central team assessed the reasons of rising Corona deaths in Jammu and accordingly suggested remedial measures to the UT administration to control the same.

The team had also visited Level-1 and Level -2 dedicated COVID Hospitals in Jammu on the first day of the visit today—(KNO)