Comparison of Percent Positivity of Two Districts of Kashmir during the 3rd COVID Wave

Background: SARS CoV-2 virus is the infectious agent that causes COVID-19 infection. The majority of those who contract this virus experience mild to moderate respiratory illnesses. This infection affected the entire population of India. The infection ratio (IR) of COVID-19 can be calculated by comparing the % positivity of various districts in a State/UT, which may prove crucial for developing policies and in taking necessary interventions for future.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the district level variation of COVID-19 infection in Kashmir during December 2021 and January 2022. The present study also gives the percent positivity of the COVID-19 infection at the various district levels.

Data and Methods: This study was retrospective in nature. The data was collected from COVID-19 lab of SKIMS Medical college and hospital (SKIMS MCH), Bemina and analysed.

Results: The total samples received in the month of December 2021 and January 2022 during 3rd COVID-19 wave from 2 districts in SKIMS MCH, Bemina,Srinagar was 56279. Out of these samples, 34141 was from district Kupwara and 22138 was from district Srinagar. The percent positivity for both months of December and January was more in district Srinagar i.e 11.4% and 3.8% respectively as compared to district Kupwara which was 8.7% and 2.9% respectively. From district Srinagar, the samples were received from 4 different regions i.e, Batmaloo, Tourist reception centre (TRC), SR gunj and Khanyar.The percent positivity in the month of December 2021 for various regions from district Srinagar i.e, Batmaloo, TRC, SR gunj and Khanyar was 4.1%, 5.2%, 2.9% and2.8% respectively. The percent positivity in the month of January 2022 for various regions from district Srinagar i.e, Batmaloo, TRC, SR gunj and Khanyar was 12.6%, 21%, 7.9% and 8.0% respectively.

Conclusion: The district Srinagar showed more cases of COVID-19 infection as compared to district Kupwara. This study provided the crucial information for the policies discourse and giving special attention to the vulnerability of the highly urban area.