Despite lockdown announced by the government, the cases of COVID-19 are witnessing sharp increase with every passing day in Kashmir valley, where people are expecting some relaxation on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha which could further complicate the situation if proper Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) are not followed.
Meanwhile, the district administration in Srinagar has admitted in a video message that the city is running short of beds for COVID-19 patients. “When hospitals run out of space to deal with the pandemic, people have no option but to take care of themselves and exercise precaution,” a voice is heard saying in a video clip shared by the Srinagar district Administration on its official twitter handle.
Doctors and other experts besides Lt Governor G C Murmu and other senior civil, army and police officials have appealed to people to follow SOPs, including wear masks and maintaining social distancing. Besides, the authorities have sought the help of religious leaders to make people aware about the danger of COVID-19 pandemic.
Since restrictions were re-imposed on July 13 in many areas in Kashmir, over 4100 people have tested positive while 75 people, including 20 in Srinagar, have lost their lives in the Union Territory in over a week. Of the total 14,650 COVID-19 positive cases reported in J&K so far since March, as many as 7153 people tested positive while 154 patients lost their lives due to the infection during the last 20 days.
Fresh lockdown was imposed from July 13 in the summer capital, Srinagar while similar restrictions were ordered by other district administrations in their respective districts, keeping in view the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though shops and business establishments remained closed, but in several areas, including civil lines, uptown and down town, roadside vendors could be seen selling fruits, vegetables and other products. As the Eid-ul-Azha is about ten days away, some people with their live stock could be seen selling sheep and goats at different places. However, the number of such sellers was less as compared to previous years.
Additional security forces and police personnel have been deployed to strictly implement the lockdown. The authorities have also increased fine for not wearing masks to Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 for violating social distancing norms.The main Amira Kadal bridge, connecting Hari Singh High Street (HSHS) with historic Lal Chowk has been closed with barbed wire. However, there was some ease in the restrictions in the Lal Chowk area, where road blocks put up by the security forces have been removed at Gantaghar.Chest Disease Hospital, Head of Department, Dr Naveed Nazir Shah in the video shared by Srinagar administration said on an average CD hospital gets 400 to 500 cases on daily basis. “Unfortunately, most of the cases now are of the patients, who have moderate to severe symptoms. Such patients require oxygen,” he said.He said the reason behind such situation is because people didn’t take precautions. “Almost 90 per cent beds in COVID-19 designated hospitals are already occupied,” he said, urging people to follow SOPs, including maintaining social distancing, avoid social gatherings and wearing masks. Despite government asserting that procedures are being followed, locals have expressed concern over huge influx of non-local labourers into the valley from last about a week. “I saw a video on social media in which the laboures, who were coming to the valley, confessed that their COVID-19 test was not done. Even if there test was done here and they tested positive for COVID-19 would it not be a burden on the already exhausted resources in our hospitals,” Nazir Ahmad, a Srinagar resident, told UNI.The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday said that it has collected 14,002 samples of labourers, who arrived at Qazigund toll post from last one week, for COVID-19 test.