Twisted facts
Coronavirus has made our lives miserable to the extent that fear looms large on all our activities. Be it education, businesses, trade, social, religious and other gatherings, life has not remained the same.
Every sphere has been hit and even the economy is witnessing such a slowdown that it will take years to set things back on track. In this type of a situation our concerns about the virus spread are more deep rooted given the fact that our healthcare infrastructure is too fragile and least modernized.
What makes our concerns more worrisome is the fact that a new suro survey has revealed that a large chunk of our population may have been infected by the novel coronavirus. The results have meant that the number5 of positive cases that we witness everyday is not the real and the actual figure.
The latest survey has revealed that over 40 per cent people living in Srinagar district have developed COVID-19 antibodies. The results of the study conducted by the Government Medical College Srinagar (GMC) reveal a quantum jump from 3.8 per cent sero-prevalence recorded in a similar study conducted in the city in June.
The latest finding report is a pointer to the fact that the earlier statements and claims made by the authorities were either given due to ignorance or the facts were twisted. The claims being played out from the sero survey at least give us the indication.
Sero-surveys surfaced after the Covid-19 made our lives dangerously exposed to the virus and made us realize the inability of the authorities to deal with the situation. The sero survey involves testing the blood serum of individuals to check for the prevalence of antibodies against an infection.
Though the trend is encouraging but there is no way that it can be claimed that COVID-19 will be defeated at a certain level of population by developing the antibodies. The study has shown that the rate of testing in Kashmir valley has not been upto the standards that have been claimed by the administration from time to time.
The earlier sero survey that was conducted in June this year painted a grim picture about the percentage of people who had developed anti-bodies to the novel coronavirus. Therefore, the new study tells us that the bad times may not be over yet as the indications are that the virus may get worse once winter sets in fully across Kashmir and Ladakh regions.
Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed nearly 85,000 COVID infections and 1,455 deaths so far due to the pandemic. There are thousands of patients who are still under medical care even though thousands have recovered.
However, there are fears of re-infections as well as the figures across the globe reveal that re-infections too are a reality which cannot be done away with.
The situation that is setting in means that there is no space for complacency and our preparedness needs to be at an all time high to deal with the virus during the upcoming winter season.
KV Network
