Coronavirus Outbreak: 76 of Jammu and Kashmir's 90 red zones fall in Kashmir, suggests high possibility of COVID-19 spread in Valley

With a vast majority (over 84 percent) of the containment zones in Jammu and Kashmir falling in the Valley, the possibility of spread of the novel coronavirus is higher in the Kashmir region than Jammu region, data shows. Of the 90 red zones, identified by the J&K Government Administration on Wednesday, 14 are in the Jammu region whereas the remaining 76 are in Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_8152071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Health officials disinfect a street in Jammu as part of measure to contain coronavirus pandemic. Image credit: PTI[/caption] A comparison with the number of containment zones as reported on 4 April, shows that while the Kashmir region has seen more than three times jump in the total number of red zones in just 12 days, whereas the number of containment zones in the Jammu region has grown by just 40 percent. According to Hindustan Times, on 4 April, while the number of containment (red) zones in the Kashmir region was 24, the Jammu region had just 10 containment ones. This surge in containment zones in the Valley shows that the possibility of spread of the virus is higher in Kashmir than in Jammu. On Thursday, the UT with its population of 1.25 crore registered 14 more cases taking its tally to 314. Though these figures haven’t been updated into the data maintained by the Union Health Ministry, even according to the central government, the UT has registered four deaths. These 90 red zones are going to be placed under 100 percent lockdown with only one exit/entry point, the administration had said on Wednesday. According to PTI, officials said the Centre has directed the Union Territory administration to continue implementing lockdown restrictions strictly for the extended period till 3 May as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country. They said the restrictions would be implemented strictly and stringent action would be taken against the violators. Markets across the Valley were shut and public transport was off the roads with only pharmacies and groceries allowed to open, the officials said. They said the essential services including healthcare personnel have been exempted from the restrictions. More than 56,000 people have been kept under surveillance including those who are either in government established quarantine facilities or in home isolation across the Union Territory. “Till date 56,595 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance which include 7,784 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 270 in hospital quarantine, 260 in hospital isolation and 30,228 under home surveillance. Besides, 18,049 persons have completed their surveillance period of 28 days,” the officials said. With inputs from PTI