Early Times Report
Srinagar, May 3: With no letup in unabated rise in the number of fresh Coronavirus cases and deaths, strict restriction on movement of people and transportation continued on Monday as the ‘84-hour-long COVID curfew’ that was imposed last week has been extended by the administration across Kashmir valley till Thursday.
Meanwhile, the entire Srinagar has been designated as Red Zone while rest of the nine districts have been placed in Orange Zone by the administration, which is seeking cooperation from the public to curtail the spread of COVID-19 by strictly adhering to the lockdown.
However, essential services were exempted from the lockdown in the valley, where so far 1694 people have been fined and 171 others have been arrested for violating COVID curfew and other guidelines since April 29.
The administration on Sunday said that all universities, schools, Colleges, coaching centres and technical / skill development institutions in J&K will continue to remain closed till May 31.
However, religious places of worship will remain open though people have been directed to follow strict COVID guidelines, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
The extension in the lockdown in the valley has come in the backdrop of unabated rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Kashmir, particularly the summer capital, Srinagar, which has recorded the major chunk of positive cases during the last about a fortnight. Srinagar alone, out of 3571 new COVID-19 cases in J&K, reported 1126 cases on Sunday, while Baramulla recorded 268 cases followed by Jammu with 486 cases, Anantnag with 222, Budgam with 194 cases, Kulgam with 188 and Kupwara with 122 cases. Fresh COVID cases in rest of the districts in Kashmir are in double digits.
Even through Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had prolonged ‘COVID curfew’ in only three districts in Kashmir -- Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla -- till May 6, Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of rest of the seven districts announced extension of the lockdown amid unabated rise in the number of Coronavirus cases and deaths in the valley.
J&K administration on Sunday also ordered that there will be complete weekend ‘Corona curfew’ within municipal, urban local body limits in all 20 districts of the Union Territory from 1900 hrs every Friday till 0700 hrs every Monday.
Streets continued to wear a deserted look as shops and business establishments remained closed though few vehicles were plying on the road in the summer capital, Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir valley, where security forces have closed majority of the roads with barbed wires and barricades to stop the movement of people. |
