With 40 Cases, South Kashmir Village Turns Into COVID-19 Hotspot; Villagers Unfazed

For the past one month, people of Hirpora village, located on Mughal road -- which connects Kashmir Valley with Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu, are confined to their houses. The village has become the new hotspot of Covid-19 in Kashmir valley with 41 positive cases reported from the hamlet. According to a senior health official, two villages in the Valley -- Gund Jehangir in Hajin area of north Kashmir and Hirpora in south Kashmir’s Shopian district -- are the two major COVID-19 hotspots, with over 80 combined coronavirus cases reported from the two hamlets.

On April 18, the first Covid-19 case was reported from Hirpora village. The patient had returned from Maharashtra days before the lockdown. Over the next few days, the cases started to rise and reached 40 by April 22. The area has now been declared a red zone and the health department has started the process for mass testing in the hamlet, said Yasin Choudhary, deputy commissioner, Shopian. He said 400 samples have been taken from the village and the result of 140 tests is awaited. He added that some people hid facts and resisted getting tested. “But we have been testing aggressively and maintained our rate. It’s been an extremely taxing month but our team shall continue working tirelessly,” he said.

Hirpora is the last village of south Kashmir and is known for its scenic beauty. It also attracts a large number of tourists, mostly local Kashmiris. “These days we don’t even look towards the village. It is scary,” says Javid Ahmad, a resident of Shopian, situated around 15 km from the village. Hirpora village almost falls in the Hirpora wildlife sanctuary. Spread over 341 km, it begins at the village border. The wildlife department of J&K has already issued an advisory, asking people not to venture into jungles and wildlife areas for recreational purposes or for collection of minor forest produce, citing the recent case of a Tiger being diagnosed as Coronavirus positive in the USA. The order has asked people, living close to forest areas, not to venture into these areas as human-wildlife interface has possibility of transmission of Covid-19. 

Ejaz Ahmad Sheikh, the village Sarpanch, said people don’t adhere to lockdown norms. “Out of nine mohallas (localities) of the village, four are affected. Problem is residents of the affected areas don’t confine themselves to their houses. They move around. Sit on shop fronts and go to the fields. Police are doing a lot but people should also have some sense,” he said. He added that despite the hike in Covid-19 cases in the village, people were not adhering to social distancing norms. “We also need an ambulance in the village as things are likely to go bad here,” he warned. 

At Gund Jahangir hamlet in Bandipora, 41 Covid-19 positive cases have been reported. According to health department official, the first case in the hamlet was of a person who had a contact history. The official said that he spread the infection among his family members and they spread it in the village. “But still I say it is not community transmission. We know contacts and we know infected persons. It is cluster transmission not community transmission. We are going for mass testing in these two villages and with co-operation of the villagers, we are hopeful of stopping the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Qazi Haroon, nodal officer, Covid-19 and OSD to Director, health services, Kashmir.