Srinagar: A Kashmir based doctors group, on Sunday, has said that most cases of confirmed infections in Kashmir were in their young and middle ages. President of the Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK), Dr. Nisar ul Hassan told the Global News Service (GNS) that “Nearly 75 percent of COVID-19 cases are between 20 to 60 years of age”.
Dr. Hassan said that based on the analysis of data, collected and collated from public domain, from 989 laboratory-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as of 16 May, “739 cases (74.72 percent) are concentrated in 20-60 age group”. Of these cases, he added that “278 cases (28.10 percent) are between 20 to 29 years of age, 179 cases (18.09 percent) are in the age group of 30-39, 149 cases (15.06 percent) belong to 40-49 and 133 cases (13.44) are between 50 and 60 years of age”.
In a statement to GNS, Dr. Hassan said while the elderly are said to be most vulnerable to the disease, as per data available, patients above 60 years of age accounted for only 79 (7.98 percent) 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 [globally], but in Kashmir valley 171 (17.29 percent) of the total cases are in the age group of 0-19,” he said.
Besides the age, the gender-wise difference is also visible in confirmed cases, said Dr. Hassan. Our data reveal out of 989 cases, 597 (60.36 percent) are males, while 391 (39.53 percent) 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.
Dr Hassan noted that Kashmir is among the highest Covid-19 case density areas in the country which is 141.28 cases per million of the population. “97 percent cases were either asymptomatic or had mild disease. Only 2 percent of patients had severe disease and just 1 percent had a critical illness,” he said.
However, so far the death rate in Kashmir valley is 1.011 percent which is below than the national average of 3.15 percent, said Dr. Hassan. So far thirteen persons have died of the disease and even though the infection is fatal in the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, a 32-year-old man with no comorbidities, and a 29-year-old woman have died of the disease.
Dr Hassan said that “While the percentage of positive cases in Kashmir valley as per our data is 2.2 percent, the recovery rate is 48.7 percent which is more than the national average which stands at 35.09 percent”. (With Inputs from GNS)