Srinagar: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Sunday said most of the people who are infected by the novel coronavirus in Kashmir valley are young and middle aged.
“Nearly 75 per cent of Covid-19 cases are between 20 to 60 years of age,” DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan said.
“Based on our analysis from the data of all 989 laboratory confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as of May 16, 739 cases (74.72 per cent) are concentrated in 20-60 age group,” he said.
“Of these 739 cases, 278 cases (28.10 per cent) are between 20 to 29 years of age, 179 cases (18.09 per cent) are in the age group of 30-39, 149 cases (15.06 per cent) belong to 40-49 and 133 cases (13.44 per cent) are between 50 and 60 years of age,” he added.
Dr Hassan said while the elderly are reportedly to be most vulnerable to the disease, ‘but as per our data patients above 60 years of age accounted for only 79 (7.98 per cent) of the total cases in the valley’.
“According to a WHO report those under 19 years of age make up only 2.4 percent of the total cases, but in Kashmir valley 171 (17.29 percent) of the total cases are in the age group of 0-19,” he said.
Dr Hassan said along with age, the gender-wise difference is also visible in confirmed cases. “Our data reveals out of 989 cases, 597 (60.36 per cent) are males, while 391 (39.53 per cent) are females. 21 pregnant women are tested positive for the novel virus. One 8 month old infant is the valley’s youngest Covid victim,” he said.
The DAK president said Kashmir is among the highest Covid-19 case density areas in the country which is 141.28 cases per million of the population. “97 per cent cases were either asymptomatic or had mild disease. Only 2 per cent patients had severe disease and just 1 per cent had critical illness,” he said.
He said the Covid death rate in Kashmir valley is 1.011 per cent which is below than the national average of 3.15 per cent. “Ten patients have succumbed to the disease. 8 of them were males while two were females in Kashmir. Seven of them were above 60 years of age and eight had underlying medical conditions. Though the virus is fatal in elderly and those with medical conditions, we had one death in a pregnant woman and a young male 32 years of age died due to the disease,” he added.
“While the percentage of positive cases in Kashmir valley as per our data is 2.2 per cent, the recovery rate is 48.7 per cent which is more than the national average which stands at 35.09 per cent,” he added.
