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10-day ‘corona curfew’ in 5 areas of Srinagar after cases surge
A 24-hour complete corona curfew with no movement of people, except for permissible activities, will be imposed at Lal Bazar, Hyderpora, Chanapora and two different pockets of Bemina from midnight Tuesday, Srinagar deputy commissioner Mohammad Aijaz Asad said.
Amid surging cases, a 10-day ‘corona curfew’ was imposed in five areas of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital, Srinagar, on Monday.
A 24-hour complete corona curfew with no movement of people, except for permissible activities, will be imposed at Lal Bazar, Hyderpora, Chanapora and two different pockets of Bemina from midnight Tuesday, Srinagar deputy commissioner Mohammad Aijaz Asad said.
“All shopping complexes, bazaars, saloons, barber shops, and restaurants will remain closed as will all educational institutions ,” he said, adding that no gathering has been allowed except marriages with a ceiling of 20 people and funerals with 10 persons.
Of the 1,165 active coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir till November 8, almost half or 587 are in Srinagar. This is the only district with which is reporting around 40-60 cases daily, around half of the daily cases in the whole union territory. On Sunday the district had reported 87 cases.
Asad said that there has been a steep rise in Covid positive cases in the district in the past 17 days and 63% of the daily cases have been detected from a few particular areas. “Strict containment measures are also required in order to ensure safety of the public,” the order said. However ‘essential services’ have been allowed to continue both in the public and private sector.
“Standalone grocery, vegetable, milk and meat shops may remain open from 7 am to 11 am only,” it said.
On Saturday Asad had warned of the return of stringent restrictions to parts of Srinagar if the spurt in Covid cases in some pockets of the city was not contained. There are 82 containment zones in Srinagar, eight of which were added on Friday.
Although Jammu and Kashmir recorded its lowest Covid-19 count in eight months in October, the union territory has been witnessing a slow and consistent rise in active cases over the past two weeks- majority of which is contributed by Srinagar.
The active cases in J&K had been on the decline, reaching its lowest ebb on October 20 with 800 cases. However after October 20, the active cases slowly went up and reached 1,165 on November 08, an increase of 45% in 19 days.
J&K sees three deaths, 111 Covid cases
Jammu and Kashmir reported 111 Covid cases and three deaths on Monday, officials said.
Of the total cases, 92 cases were reported in Kashmir valley with its capital Srinagar, which is witnessing a spurt in cases, responsible for 44 infections. The three deaths were also witnessed in the Kashmir valley, one each in Srinagar, Budgam and Bandipora districts. The Jammu division saw 19 infections.
The number of patients who were cured in the UT was 96 with active positive cases reaching 1,165.
Officials said with 44 cases, Srinagar had the highest number of new infections followed by 15 cases in Budgam, 11 cases in Ganderbal and 10 in Baramulla with no or single-digit cases in the other 16 districts.
Srinagar district has the highest number of active cases at 587 followed by Baramulla and Budgam districts with 166 and 87 active cases respectively.
The government’s daily health bulletin also said that 83,836 vaccine doses were administered taking overall doses administered in the UT to 1.525 crores.
The overall number of people who have recovered reached 3,27,579 prompting the recovery rate to reach 98.31%. Since the pandemic started, the overall cases in J&K have reached 3,33,187 and the death-toll reaches 4,443.
The officials said that 38,038 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours in the UT. Jammu district has the highest number of 1,146 fatalities followed by Srinagar with 852 deaths.
Winter could bring rise in Covid cases: DAK
With a sudden surge in the number of Covid cases in Kashmir valley in the last few days, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Monday said winter months could bring rise in the number of coronavirus cases.
“We could see a further spike in cases,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement. “However, the number of severe cases and hospitalisations will be considerably lower than that of last winter,” he said, adding that cold and drier conditions are favourable to the viral stability. “Covid-19 tends to thrive in cooler conditions and survives outside better when it is cold,” he said.
Dr Hassan said low humidity during winter is the main driver of virus transmission. In environments with low humidity, the virus stays suspended for much longer in the air which increases the risk of transmission.
General Secretary DAK Dr Arshad Ali said Jammu and Kashmir had a large unvaccinated population. As of November 8, 2021, 45% of the population in J&K has been fully vaccinated. “This means around 55% of the population is susceptible, which is enough to sustain the virus,” he said.
“In order to prevent the revival of Covid-19, we need to vaccinate 80-90% of the population,” he added.
