COVID-19 pandemic in Jammu and Kashmir

The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020, originating from China. Slowly, the pandemic spread to various states and union territories including the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. 02 suspected cases with high virus load were detected and isolated on 4 March in Government Medical College, Jammu. One of them became the first confirmed positive case on 9 March 2020. Both individuals had a travel history to Iran.[1]

COVID-19 pandemic in Jammu and Kashmir
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Jammu & Kashmir, India
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China
Index case	09 March 2020. (5 months and 1 week)
Arrival date	04 March 2020 (5 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Confirmed cases	17,305 (25 July 2020)
Active cases	7,483
Recovered	9,517 (25 July 2020)
Deaths	305 (25 July 2020)
Fatality rate	1.76%
Government website
Department of Information and Public relations

As of 25 July 2020, total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 17,305. This includes 7,483 active cases, 9,517 successful recoveries/discharges and 305 deaths. 570,508 tests have been conducted till date.[2]

Guidelines and protocols

Guidelines related to testing and quarantine protocols

• Anyone entering the UT by road, rail and air has to take mandatory COVID19 test and undergo institutional quarantine till the test results are received.[3]
• After receiving the test results, individuals tested negative can return home but have to undertake a 14-day home quarantine. COVID positive individuals are relocated to dedicated healthcare facilities for treatment.[3]
• Travellers can also opt for a paid hospitality quarantine by registering themselves for one at KIOSKS where the samples for tests are collected.
• Travellers from Districts designated as Red zones to Orange zone Districts within the UT to undergo same testing and quarantine regime.[4]

Following categories are exempted from the mandatory quarantine protocols:-

• Pregnant women, mothers with infants below 1yr
• Cancer, chronically ill and dialysis patients
• Children below 10 yrs travelling alone
• GoI personnel on duty
• Travellers with COVID negative test certificate issued by ICMR approved lab and not older than 48hrs
• CAPF and Armed forces personnel reporting for active duty in the Union Territory, will be sent to their respective formations

Helplines issued by the administration

• 1075 -Toll free national COVID helpline
• 0191-2549676 -UT level cell
• 0191-2520982, 0191-2674444, 0191-2674115 - Jammu Division
• 0194-2440283, 0194-2430581 - Kashmir Division

Lockdown and administrative measures

March 2020

On 7 March, primary schools in Jammu and Samba districts were closed down until 31 March after two suspected cases with "high viral load" were reported in Jammu.[5]

On 15 March, Shri Mata Vaishnov Devi Shrine Board asked non-resident Indians and foreigners not to visit the temple for 28 days after landing in India.

On 18 March, Jammu and Kashmir banned entry of all foreign tourists.[6] On the other hand, the Directorate of Floriculture, Parks and Horticulture of the state extended the Bagh-e-Bahu Garden to the general public from 18 to 31 March to keep the situation under control in the Union Territory.[7][8]

June 2020

As of 3 June 2020, all 20 districts in the Union Territory have reported confirmed positive cases. Anantnag has reported the highest number of cases in the UT whereas, Kishtwar's count is the least till date.

The UT administration announced a slew of relaxation in accordance to the MoHFW and MHA guidelines during Lockdown 3.0 followed by more relaxations in Lockdown 4.0. Testing numbers of the J&K are highest in India at 10,000 tests per million population.[9]

The UT administration extended the Lockdown 4 restrictions till 8 June after which the Unlock-1 relaxations would be implemented as per MHA guidelines.

On 5 June, the Government ordered its employees to attend offices on regular basis beginning 6 June. High-risk groups have been advised to take extra precautions or work from home and will not be attending frontline duties or involvement in public dealings.[10]

July 2020

• On 11 July, total cases in Jammu and Kashmir crossed tally of 10000.[11]

August 2020

• As of 1 August, the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 20972, including 7713 active cases, 12871 cures and 388 deaths.[12]
• As of 4 August, the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 22396, including 7123 active cases, 14856 cures and 417 deaths.[12]
• As of 9 August, the total number of cases is 24390, including 7264 active cases, 16667 cures and 459 deaths.[12]
• As of 11 August, the total number of cases is 25931, including 7462 active cases, 17979 cures and 490 deaths.[12]
• As of 14 August, the total number of cases is 27489, including 7027 active cases, 19942 cures and 520 deaths.[12]

Classification of Districts for COVID-19 containment^ [13]

Red zones-

• All districts of Kashmir Division except Ganderbal and Bandipore.
• Ramban of Jammu Division.

Orange zones

• Kathua district Except Lakhanpur containment zone which will be considered RED zone with 500m buffer.
• Samba
• Bandipore
• Jammu district
• Reasi
• Udhampur
• Ganderbal
• Poonch
• Rajouri

Green Zones

• Doda
• Kishtwar

Timeline

Below is the timeline of the cases of Jammu and Kashmir:

COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir, India  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases Mar Mar Apr Apr May May Jun Jun Last 15 days Last 15 days
Date			# of cases	# of deaths
2020-03-09		​	1(n.a.)
2020-03-10		​	1(=)
2020-03-11		​	1(=)
2020-03-12		​	1(=)
2020-03-13		​	2(+100%)
2020-03-14		​	2(=)
2020-03-15		​	2(=)
2020-03-16		​	3(+50%)
2020-03-17		​	3(=)
2020-03-18		​	4(+33%)
2020-03-19		​	4(=)
2020-03-20		​	4(=)
2020-03-21		​	4(=)
2020-03-22		​	4(=)
2020-03-23		​	4(=)
2020-03-24		​	7(+75%)
2020-03-25		​	11(+57%)
2020-03-26		​ ​	13(+18%)	1(n.a.)
2020-03-27		​ ​	18(+38%)	1(=)
2020-03-28		​ ​	33(+83%)	1(=)
2020-03-29		​ ​	38(+15%)	1(=)
2020-03-30		​ ​ ​	38(=)	2(+100%)
2020-03-31		​ ​ ​	55(+45%)	2(=)
2020-04-01		​ ​ ​	62(+13%)	2(=)
2020-04-02		​ ​ ​	62(=)	2(=)
2020-04-03		​ ​ ​	75(+21%)	2(=)
2020-04-04		​ ​ ​	92(+23%)	2(=)
2020-04-05		​ ​ ​	106(+15%)	2(=)
2020-04-06		​ ​ ​	109(+2.8%)	2(=)
2020-04-07		​ ​ ​	125(+15%)	2(=)
2020-04-08		​ ​ ​	139(+11%)	3(+50%)
2020-04-09		​ ​ ​	184(+32%)	4(+33%)
2020-04-10		​ ​ ​	207(+12%)	4(=)
2020-04-11		​ ​ ​	224(+8.2%)	4(=)
2020-04-12		​ ​ ​	245(+9.4%)	4(=)
2020-04-13		​ ​ ​	270(+10%)	4(=)
2020-04-14		​ ​ ​	278(+3%)	4(=)
2020-04-15		​ ​ ​	300(+7.9%)	4(=)
2020-04-16		​ ​ ​	314(+4.7%)	4(=)
2020-04-17		​ ​ ​	328(+4.5%)	5(+25%)
2020-04-18		​ ​ ​	341(+4%)	5(=)
2020-04-19		​ ​ ​	350(+2.6%)	5(=)
2020-04-20		​ ​ ​	368(+5.1%)	5(=)
2020-04-21		​ ​ ​	380(+3.3%)	5(=)
2020-04-22		​ ​ ​	407(+7.1%)	5(=)
2020-04-23		​ ​ ​	427(+4.9%)	5(=)
2020-04-24		​ ​ ​	454(+6.3%)	5(=)
2020-04-25		​ ​ ​	494(+8.8%)	6(+20%)
2020-04-26		​ ​ ​	523(+5.9%)	6(=)
2020-04-27		​ ​ ​	546(+4.4%)	7(+17%)
2020-04-28		​ ​ ​	565(+3.5%)	8(+14%)
2020-04-29		​ ​ ​	581(+2.8%)	8(=)
2020-04-30		​ ​ ​	614(+5.7%)	8(=)
2020-05-01		​ ​ ​	639(+4.1%)	8(=)
2020-05-02		​ ​ ​	666(+4.2%)	8(=)
2020-05-03		​ ​ ​	701(+5.3%)	8(=)
2020-05-04		​ ​ ​	726(+3.6%)	8(=)
2020-05-05		​ ​ ​	741(+2.1%)	8(=)
2020-05-06		​ ​ ​	775(+4.6%)	8(=)
2020-05-07		​ ​ ​	793(+2.3%)	9(+12%)
2020-05-08		​ ​ ​	823(+3.8%)	9(=)
2020-05-09		​ ​ ​	836(+1.6%)	9(=)
2020-05-10		​ ​ ​	861(+3%)	9(=)
2020-05-11		​ ​ ​	879(+2.1%)	10(+11%)
2020-05-12		​ ​ ​	934(+6.3%)	10(=)
2020-05-13		​ ​ ​	971(+4%)	11(+10%)
2020-05-14		​ ​ ​	983(+1.2%)	11(=)
2020-05-15		​ ​ ​	1,013(+3.1%)	11(=)
2020-05-16		​ ​ ​	1,121(+11%)	12(+9.1%)
2020-05-17		​ ​ ​	1,183(+5.5%)	13(+8.3%)
2020-05-18		​ ​ ​	1,289(+9%)	15(+15%)
2020-05-19		​ ​ ​	1,317(+2.2%)	17(+13%)
2020-05-20		​ ​ ​	1,390(+5.5%)	18(+5.9%)
2020-05-21		​ ​ ​	1,449(+4.2%)	20(+11%)
2020-05-22		​ ​ ​	1,489(+2.8%)	20(=)
2020-05-23		​ ​ ​	1,569(+5.4%)	21(+5%)
2020-05-24		​ ​ ​	1,621(+3.3%)	21(=)
2020-05-25		​ ​ ​	1,668(+2.9%)	23(+9.5%)
2020-05-26		​ ​ ​	1,759(+5.5%)	24(+4.3%)
2020-05-27		​ ​ ​	1,921(+9.2%)	26(+8.3%)
2020-05-28		​ ​ ​	2,036(+6%)	27(+3.8%)
2020-05-29		​ ​ ​	2,164(+6.3%)	28(+3.7%)
2020-05-30		​ ​ ​	2,341(+8.2%)	28(=)
2020-05-31		​ ​ ​	2,446(+4.5%)	28(=)
2020-06-01		​ ​ ​	2,601(+6.3%)	31(+11%)
2020-06-02		​ ​ ​	2,718(+4.5%)	33(+6.5%)
2020-06-03		​ ​ ​	2,857(+5.1%)	34(+3%)
2020-06-04		​ ​ ​	3,142(+10%)	35(+2.9%)
2020-06-05		​ ​ ​	3,324(+5.8%)	36(+2.9%)
2020-06-06		​ ​ ​	3,467(+4.3%)	39(+8.3%)
2020-06-07		​ ​ ​	4,087(+18%)	41(+5.1%)
2020-06-08		​ ​ ​	4,285(+4.8%)	45(+9.8%)
2020-06-09		​ ​ ​	4,346(+1.4%)	48(+6.7%)
2020-06-10		​ ​ ​	4,507(+3.7%)	51(+6.2%)
2020-06-11		​ ​ ​	4,574(+1.5%)	52(+2%)
2020-06-12		​ ​ ​	4,730(+3.4%)	53(+1.9%)
2020-06-13		​ ​ ​	4,878(+3.1%)	55(+3.8%)
Sources:

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in India
• COVID-19 pandemic in the World

References

1. J&K, Health & Medical Education Department (8 March 2020). "One case of patient admitted in isolation at GMC tested positive for Coronavirus, patient had travel history to Iran, second patient's sample being sent for retest". jkhealth.org. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
2. "DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) on Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
3. DIPR-J&K (1 June 2020). "Quarantine Procedure for passengers coming into the UT of J&k by road/rail/air". @diprjk. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
4. DIPR-J&K (1 June 2020). "Travellers from Red zones to Orange zones within UT". @diprjk. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
5. "J-K govt braces for coronavirus, shuts down schools in Jammu and Samba till March 31". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
6. "Coronavirus: Foreign tourists' entry banned in Kashmir". ANI.
7. "Coronavirus: Entry of foreign tourists banned in Kashmir". The Times of India.
8. "Coronavirus: Foreign tourists' entry banned in Kashmir". Yahoo india.
9. May 25, IANS /; 2020; Ist, 22:58. "Covid-19: With 10,000 tests per million, J&K No 1 in India | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 June 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
11. "268 New Cases in J&K, Covid-19 Tally Crosses 10000 Mark". Kashmir Observer. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
12. "MoHFW-GOI". Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
13. "DIPR-JK". Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2020.