Need to be more cautious

For the first time, Jammu and Kashmir has recorded no Covid-19 case after the gap of nearly three years, which has seemingly brought a respite from the pandemic to the people in the Union Territory. Since the last three years, the Union Territory has recorded over 4700 deaths while 479266 people have been infected. Among the cases, 174028 are from Jammu division and 305238 from Kashmir Valley. Having just 23 active cases— nine in Jammu and 14 in Kashmir, the situation is seemingly an end to the pandemic in the Union Territory, but all that the people need to ensure is to not let the guard down to ensure the deadly virus is fought tooth and nail. Some disturbing reports are coming to the fore about the existence of new Covid strain, which is 80% deadly compared to the previous strains while the predictions from the health experts about the unending Covid, is still putting a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the people. The advices and suggestions from the health experts cannot be ignored as the Covid infections caused by Omicron’s newly identified XBB have nearly doubled in the last one week in India and it’s now likely the recombinant will become the dominant subvariant in the country within a month, the experts believe. Therefore, it is the time when there is a need to be more cautious than celebrating the end of the pandemic, thus following the mandatory guidelines are imperative and the need of the hour to combat the virus in letter and spirit.