E-Paper
Assess vaccination status of students, staff, J&K edu institutes told
In an order on August 15, chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta said there was a need to continue with the existing containment measures in all the districts in view of the uneven trend in daily Covid cases
Covid containment measures in force in Jammu and Kashmir such as night curfew and no on-site classes at educational institutions will continue for the coming week as well, officials said after a review of the pandemic situation.
The review of the Covid situation was conducted under the chairmanship of chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on August 13.
In an order on August 15, Mehta said there was a need to continue with the existing containment measures in all the districts “in view of the uneven trend in daily Covid cases”.
“The maximum number of people permitted to attend any indoor or outdoor gathering will be restricted to 25,” said Mehta, who is also chairman of the state executive committee.
The government on Sunday had temporarily relaxed the 25-person cap on indoor or outdoor gatherings for August 15 to allow Independence Day celebrations.
The order said that there will be no weekend curfew in any district. “The night curfew will continue to remain in force in all the districts from 8pm to 7am,” it said.
The daily Covid cases in J&K continue to remain low and have mostly remained below 150 cases per day this month.
Jammu and Kashmir administration had on July 25 lifted the weekend curfew in all districts of the Union Territory as the Covid cases had registered a drop.
The order stated that while all schools, colleges and coaching centres will continue to remain closed for on-site and in-person teaching, the educational institutions are permitted to seek attendance of vaccinated staff for administrative purposes.
“Further, all heads of higher educational institutions will in a fortnight assess dose-wise vaccination status of the students and staff of their respective institutions, enabling the state executive committee to take a considered view on the reopening of these institutions for on-site learning,” the order said.
All deputy commissioners (DCs) have been asked to focus on the positivity rate in their respective medical blocks and intensify management and restrictions of activities.
“There will be renewed focus on panchayat-level mapping of cases and effective micro-containment zones will be constituted wherever unusual spikes of cases are noticed,” it said.
The officials have been asked to also focus on second dose of vaccines. “Intensive vaccination drives will be taken up in all districts to ensure timely administration of second dose, besides administering first dose to vulnerable groups,” the order stated.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 77 fresh Covid cases on Monday, taking the infection tally to 3,23,499, while a single fatality pushed the death toll to 4,398 in the union territory, officials said.
Out of the fresh cases, 23 were from Jammu division and 54 from Kashmir division, they said.
The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 14 new cases followed by Baramulla with 12.
The number of active cases now stands at 1,229 in the union territory, and 3,17,872 patients have recovered from the disease so far, they added.
The officials said there were 42 confirmed cases of Mucormycosis (black fungus) in the union territory currently.
HP logs 276 fresh virus cases
Himachal Pradesh recorded 276 fresh Covid-19 cases on Monday taking the state’s tally to 2,10,419 while the death toll mounted to 3,535 after three more patients succumbed to the contagion.
Of the new cases, highest 77 were reported in Mandi, 56 in Kangra, 33 in Chamba, 29 in Hamirpur, 25 each in Bilaspur and Shimla, 12 each in Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti, three in Kinnaur, two in Una and one each in Sirmaur and Solan.
Active cases have come down to 2,695 after the state recorded more recoveries than the new cases on second consecutive day. Recoveries reached 2,04,167 after 334 recuperated.
