Srinagar, Apr 23: Restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus continued in Kashmir for the 36th consecutive day on Thursday, even as the authorities are contemplating to take critical decisions to strengthen the lockdown in the wake of the violations at some places, officials said.
They said the security forces have sealed off main roads in most places in the Valley and erected barriers at several other places to check the unwanted movement of the people and to enforce the lockdown.
The administration has said the essential services including healthcare personnel have been exempted from the restrictions and only persons with valid movement passes are allowed passage.
The declared containment or red zones across the valley have been sealed off to ensure strict adherence to the standard operating procedure.
The markets across the valley were shut and public transport was off the roads with only pharmacies and groceries allowed to open, the officials said.
Educational institutions across Kashmir are closed, while all public places including gymnasiums, parks, clubs and restaurants were shut down more than a week before the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While the prime minister announced the country-wide lockdown on the evening of March 24, the union territory administration here had on March 22 announced a lockdown across Jammu and Kashmir till 31 March as part of its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
However, restrictions were first imposed in many parts of the valley on March 19. The measures were taken after the detection of the first positive case of coronavirus in the valley.
The officials said the authorities were contemplating to take critical decisions to strengthen the lockdown in the wake of the violations at some places.
There have been reports of violations of the lockdown by a few people at some places in the valley, especially in the Srinagar city. In order to strengthen the restrictions and the lock down, the authorities were contemplating taking some harsh steps, the officials added.
Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary has also said the city administrations would take some critical decisions in the coming days to strengthen the lockdown in the city.
He said they were continuously receiving information and pictures of people violating the lockdown.
“Even though majority of people are cooperating with the administration to make the lockdown a success, at some places, people in large numbers are coming out of their homes, especially during the morning and evening hours,” Choudhary said.
He appealed to the people to stay indoors.
The officials said the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has now risen to 407. Five patients have died and 92 have recovered.
More than 64,000 people have been kept under surveillance including those who are either in government established quarantine facilities or in home isolation.
“Till date 64,089 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for surveillance, which include 5,806 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 252 in hospital quarantine, 310 in hospital isolation and 15,376 under home surveillance. Besides, 42,340 persons have completed their surveillance period,” the officials said.
(PTI)
