End The Lockdown
Riyaz Wani
A recent runaway surge in coronavirus cases temporarily threatened to plunge Jammu and Kashmir into the same chaos as was unfolding in Delhi through March and April. At over 5000 cases a day in April, Kashmir had cases almost equal to the number in Pakistan, a country with 21 times more population. This was a troubling state of affairs. At one point, there was a 700 per cent rise in the cases in just four weeks. And any further spike could have overrun the health facilities.
The Lal Chowk In Lockdown: Perhaps the busiest space of Kashmir, Lal Chowk is silent like a rock because of the almost month-old lockdown. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
SRINAGAR: In the last 24 hours, Jammu and Kashmir lost 46 people as fresh 2253 were detected across 20 districts of the erstwhile state. Kashmir lost 16 citizens and Jammu 30 in the last 24 hours. Jammu city’s Covid19 casualties reached 1043, the highest in the 20 districts.
SRINAGAR: With the lockdown in force for the 29th day, the fast mutating Covid19 virus is exhibiting low infection numbers as the morbidity is gradually going down. But officials say it is early to push the unlock button.