*UT Govt working on sectors to ease restrictions
Says normalcy will come gradually
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 24: The Union Territory Government is planning to give more relaxations in restrictions in Jam-mu and Kashmir after completion of second phase of lockdown on May 3 as Hotspots are reducing.
An indication to this effect was given by Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu while speaking to Republic TV this evening.
“The Hotspots are reducing. The Red Zones are going down. Now, there are mostly Orange, Yellow and Green Zones. We will have little bit of restrictions in critical areas and not everywhere (after May 3). Gradually, the normalcy will come,’’ Murmu said.
He added that Jammu and Kashmir is taking 16 days to double the cases, which is next to Kerala only where the cases are doubling in 20 days. “We have increased the testing also,’’ he said.
He pointed out that J&K has the third-highest rate of testing per million among all States and UTs of the country.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Union Territory administration is working on the areas where relaxations can be given while maintaining social distancing and ensuring crowd control with a view to revive economic activity and resume working of the labour class, which has been suffering due to lockdown.
“The UT administration is also in touch with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs,’’ they said. The industry and other such sectors could also get relaxation from May 3.
Number of industries manufacturing essentials items have already been permitted to work from April 20. However, after May 3, the UT Government could look beyond the essential commodities and permit more sectors to work but under guidelines of the Centre and J&K Governments on social distancing, rotational work etc to ensure that people don’t come in touch with each other.
Responding to a question, the Lieutenant Governor said fortunately 80 percent cases in Jammu and Kashmir are asymptomatic.
“If such cases are detected at right time, we have Wellness Centres, Quarantine Centres and COVID Hospitals. We are augmenting the facilities but fortunately, none is on ventilator,’’ he said.
The Lieutenant Governor said that since early March, the authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had started surveillance in all entry points like Airports, Railway Stations, Bus Stands and suspended all inter-State bus services.
“By now, we have 65,000 people kept under surveillance, of whom, 20,000-odd people are in home quarantine. In our administrative quarantine, only 279 people are there,” Murmu said.
He further said, “In almost 49 days, from the first case detected in the Jammu region, only 57 positive cases have come. In the Valley, there are 434 cases of which 92 have recovered and five deaths have been reported.”
When asked about the difference in numbers of cases in Jammu and Kashmir regions, Murmu said people with travel history are more in the Valley.
“The people who have come back from different parts of the country are numerically more (in Valley) and their contacts are coming out right now. That is why we have more Red Zones in Valley than the Jammu region. Only 13 Red Zones are in three districts (of Jammu region) while almost 82 Red Zones are in the Valley,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
Murmu said nearly 80 percent COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic and if they come to hospitals at the right time, the caseload will ease.
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