Corona curfew in Jammu and Kashmir extended in all 20 districts till May 17

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday extended the 'corona curfew' for a week in all 20 districts of the UT in view of the worrisome surge in COVID-19 cases. The curfew was earlier scheduled to end on Monday.

The curfew will now last till 7 am on May 17. "Corona Curfew imposed in all 20 districts of J&K till 7 am on Monday, 10/5/21 is extended further by 7 days till 7 am on Monday, 17/5/21. The curfew will be strict except for a few essential services," the Department of Information and Public Relations, Jammu and Kashmir tweeted.

As per the official order, the gathering permissible for marriages is reduced to 25 from the current 50 with effect from Sunday itself. While essential and emergency services have been exempted from the restrictions. 

Police and paramilitary forces have put checkpoints on roads in all districts of the UT to curb the unnecessary movement of people.

Earlier on April 29, the Jammu and Kashmir administration imposed curfew in 11 districts in a bid to tackle the surge in COVID-19 cases, which was subsequently extended to all the 20 districts the next day.

Jammu and Kashmir also witnessed a 34-hour curfew from 8 pm on April 24 till April 26.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Jammu and Kashmir has 46,535 active coronavirus cases. On Saturday, the UT recorded 4,788 fresh coronavirus cases taking the tally of infected persons to 2,11,742 while the death toll in the union territory rose to 2,672 with a record 60 fatalities in 24 hours.