Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, May 11: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has sounded an alert about COVID-19 going to stay in the Union Territory for next six to seven months. It means people will have to get ready for a bigger challenge.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “It appears that testing times won’t end so soon. Compared to Kashmir, cases are less in Jammu. There is a possibility about Jammu becoming COVID free soon but Kashmir will take time.”
He said, “During the past few days testing rate in J&K has improved and more people are being tested daily. Kashmir has been recording positive cases daily but along with that recovery rate has also increased. The situation to a great extent is under control.”
He said, “The administration will have to be watchful as in coming days hundreds of stranded people are scheduled to arrive in J&K. They have to be screened and put under mandatory quarantine to ensure that everyone remains safe.”
An observer said, “The Government of India (GoI) is slowly easing the lockdown restrictions and it seems the exit plan has already been drawn but as far as Kashmir is concerned it appears that lockdown will prolong for some more time as the entire Valley has been declared as a Red Zone.”
He said, “Experts and medicos too are not sure about how the virus will behave in coming days. Could there be a second wave? Or will it disappear after this phase? No one is sure. The COVID-19 curve has flattened in China. The situation has improved In United Kingdom and Italy. In our country things have not gone out of hand as the lockdown prevented the virus from spreading. But the United States has been the worst hit.”
The observer said that maintaining social distance and wearing masks are going to become new norms. “We will have to discipline ourselves as the world will be an entirely different place to live in after the lockdown is lifted. The first thing we will have to put in our minds is that situation has changed and we will have to maintain distance from each other. Experts are of the opinion that virus will stay till a vaccine is developed. No country is sure about how long will it take to manufacture the vaccine. Road ahead is not going to be that easy. Fighting COVID-19 is still a long-drawn battle which can be only won by resilience and by remaining steadfast on our resolve to defeat this deadly virus, which has brought all the activities on the planet earth to a grinding halt.”
COVID-19 won’t go so soon, people need to get ready for a bigger challenge
