Strict lockdown in Kashmir as virus tally soars

A 108-hour ‘strict’ lockdown that began in all the ten districts of Kashmir on Wednesday evening is expected to act as an antidote by the authorities who are worried that they might not have the resources they need to prevent a much wide outbreak of Coronavirus or COVID-19 in the Valley.

Jammu and Kashmir particularly the Valley has witnessed an alarming spike in the number of cases of COVID-19 over the past week and as no magical medical remedies are nowhere in sight, the government officials, medical fraternity and general public- all are worried over the situation worsening with each passing day.

An official spokesman here said that 453 fresh positive cases of the pandemic surfaced across J&K including 352 in the Valley and 101 in Jammu region on Wednesday, taking the tally to 15,711. With ten more people succumbing to COVID-19 till filing of this report, the death toll has risen to 273. Srinagar district, with 71 deaths, tops the list of Covid-19 fatalities followed by 57 in Baramulla, 26 in Kulgam, 20 in Budgam, 19 each in Shopian and Anantnag, 15 in Kupwara, 14 in Pulwama, 7 in Bandipore and 5 in Ganderbal. In Jammu, the Jammu district tops the list with 12 deaths out of 20 in the entire region.

Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor, R. K. Mathur, said on Wednesday that the landlocked region has “effectively handled” the COVID-19 pandemic. He credited “self-discipline” of the people of Ladakh and villages “exercising various disciplinary restraints” as the prime reasons in containing the spread of the virus. He added, “Also correct and timely administrative decisions like home quarantine, opening of shops for maximum hours to avoid crowding, etcetera with the full support of the medical fraternity and local community have helped Ladakh fight the pandemic in unison”.

The J&K government earlier during the day on Wednesday announced that a complete lockdown will be imposed in all districts falling in the red zone, except Bandipora, in the Valley from (Wednesday) evening.

“Complete lockdown in all red districts, excluding Bandipora of Kashmir division from today evening till 6 am on July 27,” a tweet from the government said. It also said that agriculture, horticulture and construction activities will, however, continue as per the disaster management guidelines and that the movement of goods carriers including LPG and Oil tankers will also continue “unhindered”.

As excluding Bandipore from the restrictions left many people bewildered and some of them questioned the wisdom behind the decision, the concerned DC Owais Ahmed was quick to ask for imposing strict restrictions in containment zones of the district as well. He also asked the concerned authorities to act tough against the violators of COVID-19 guidelines.