Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has once again started the classification of districts into Red, Green and Orange zones to prevent the COVID-19 cases from spreading at a rapid pace.
To begin with the administration has declared areas around Lakhanpur in Jammu region and areas around Jawahar Tunnel in Kashmir as “Red Zones,” all districts of Kashmir and Jammu provinces except Srinagar have been designated as “Green Zones” while Srinagar has been marked as “Orange Zone.”
An observer while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “If the COVID cases keep on increasing we may see many areas being turned into containment zones to keep the virus under check. The administration has sounded an alert. Designating districts as Red, Orange and Green Zones seems to be a beginning to implement lockdown in phases.”
He said, “We may not witness a large scale lockdown that we witnessed last year but we should get ready to face area wise lockdowns.”
A medico said, “When the COVID arrived last year we were clueless about how to deal with it but now we are better equipped. Following the basic COVID rules like maintaining social distance, wearing masks and washing hands regularly are important to fight the pestilence. Lowering the guard has brought the COVID back.”
Flu expert and president of Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK), Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan in a statement said, “Only one percent of the population in Jammu and Kashmir (JK) has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. That means most of the people are still susceptible to infection.”
Another medico said, “Till now there are no reports of new COVID variant infiltrating into Kashmir. We can control the virus but we need to take precautions. The COVID has become a new normal in our lives. It’s going to stay with us. We need to bear in mind that it’s very contagious and it needs to be contained before it spreads again.”
It’s in place to mention here that the reports emanating from places like Delhi, Maharashtra and other states are not that encouraging the alert has already been sounded across the country.
An official said, “Jammu and Kashmir administration is trying to put in place all the preventive measures and classifying the districts is a part of the exercise. People need not panic.”
He said, “All institutions, including schools and colleges, are functioning normally. It’s not Kashmir only where schools are open these institutions are functioning across the country. Everyone is aware of the fact that COVID cases are increasing but all preventive measures are being put in place to keep the virus under check.”
