Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Apr 29: With just few days left for the Lockdown-II to end, the Central and State Governments are busy formulating an exit plan in the areas which have not been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak but in the “Red Zones” lockdown is all set to continue.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “The lockdown seems to be all set to continue in Kashmir as positive cases have crossed 500 mark and seven persons have died till date due to this infection.”
He said, “Many people are of the opinion that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ordering a lockdown soon after the COVID-19 arrived in India has helped in saving lives. His critics in the beginning had termed the lockdown as a hasty decision but now they seem to have realized that it was a wise decision.”
The analyst said, “Jammu and Kashmir administration too played a proactive role to contain this virus from spreading in the Union Territory, especially in Kashmir, where the number could have been much higher due to people of Kashmiri being frequent travelers.”
It’s in place to mention here that administration in Kashmir took proactive measures to ensure that all the travelers are scanned and are put into quarantine. Contacts of people, who tested positive for COVID-19, were traced and isolated. Recently, spokesman of Jammu and Kashmir administration and Principal Secretary, Rohit Kansal, stated that testing capacity in Kashmir has increased to more than 1000 tests in a day.
An observer said, “Kashmir has been badly hit as the number of positive cases are increasing but the silver lining is that the people who were infected by this virus are getting cured also. Till date 176 patients have responded to the treatment and have recovered fully.”
He said, “Cases have been reported from central, north and south Kashmir. There are many Red Zones in Kashmir. The J&K Government did not implement the latest amended Lockdown guidelines in Kashmir.”
The MHA last week had issued a circular allowing the neighbourhood and standalone shops to open up but had stressed on social distancing. “Due to number of cases being high in the Valley the J&K administration didn’t give any relaxation in restrictions. At present entire Kashmir is under lockdown and it appears that it will get extended till the COVID-19 curve flattens,” the observer added.
He said, “Situation in Jammu region has stabilized to a great extent. There is a possibility about lockdown being lifted in Jammu after May 3 in a phased manner. But in Kashmir people will have to live with lockdown till the stability is achieved.”
COVID-19 lockdown: Jammu may get some relief, Kashmir set to remain shut
