Complete lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir from tonight till Monday

With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the government has decided to implement a full lockdown in 11 districts starting Thursday 7 pm till 7 am on Monday.

The districts of the valley which are going under full lockdown include Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla, Budgam, Kulgam, Pulwama, Ganderbal, Jammu, Kathua, Reasi, and Udhampur. 

Essential services would be exempted from the lockdown. All employees working for these services will be allowed to go to their respective offices. All schools, colleges and universities were shut last week after the spurt of COVID-19 cases in the area.

''There will be Complete Lockdown in Srinagar District from 7:00 pm Thursday (29/04/2021) to 7:00 am Monday (03/05/2021). Exemptions apply to essential services.'' said DC Srinagar, Ajaz Asad. He also added, ''In view of massive spurt in positive cases in District Srinagar & after due deliberations, Section 144 CrPc is imposed hereby within the Municipal limits of the district to contain further spread of the epidemic. Assembly of five or more persons is banned with immediate effect."

The union territory has reported more than 3,000 cases per day in the last week. The death toll has also gone up to 20 per day, which is the highest this year. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 24,313. Around 14,795 active cases are in Kashmir, while Jammu has 9,518 active cases at present. The union territory has witnessed 2,227 deaths so far. Kashmir division has had 1372 deaths while Jammu has had 855 COVID-19 related deaths.