SRINAGAR: After being under lockdown for almost half of the year, what is the state and status of the pandemic in Kashmir? People are increasingly asking the question that when they will be permitted to resume the normality so that they can earn with dignity.
According to the daily statistical note on the pandemics, the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 28021. Almost all are recovered or are at different stages of recovery as the number of active cases stands at 6818, of whom 5227 are in Kashmir.
There have been 527 deaths so far and most of them 484 have taken place in 10 districts of Kashmir. These details are expected to change by the evening of August 16 as the new developments that have taken place in last 24 hours will add up.
At 5000, Srinagar’s "recovered cases" are more than thrice the "active cases". Satisfying to see people timely reporting for tests. With opening of business & transport pl remember 3 things:
~Masks
~Distancing
~Hygiene— Shahid Choudhary (@listenshahid) August 15, 2020
Compared to the major states in India – Jammu and Kashmir is a small union territory, numbers are too small, so is the demography. With 6.67 positives cases currently being tackled in the hospitals across India, the numbers in Jammu and Kashmir are too little. But that does not make a case of taking the scourge easy. It is devastating and thousands of families are in crisis.
Lockdowns won’t discipline us. Suppose the vaccines don’t reach us this year,will that mean we’ll stay locked up?No. It means that we’ve to learn to live with it&take all precautionary measures while going out.
Bruised business’ & battered economy’s last hope is a soap & a mask!— Sheikh Ashiq (@sheikhashiq4) August 15, 2020
Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary who has been the key individual in managing the most impacted district in Jammu and Kashmir is always suggestive of the idea that the numbers are encouraging and if the people in Jammu’s Kashmir’s most populous city take the SOPs seriously, it will become easier to manage the mess.
Y is lockdown selectively being used in Kashmir. Covid seems to be a fig leaf for what seems economic persecution. there is no lockdown in the rest of the country which is literally teeming with covid case. State seems to be m vindictive towards self employed.
— Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) August 16, 2020
At the same time, however, tensions are running high that the authorities are using the lockdown to push the population towards economic crisis. Kashmir has not been able to do anything since August 2019. Though there were a few weeks of works but the trade used that in cleaning their spaces. The purchasing capacity has also gone massively down so even if businesses reopen, they will take a long time to revive.
With most of the crucial days of the Kashmir’s peculiar calendar already over and remained incident-free, the situation must encourage the governance structure to permit restoring of the routine life activities especially the business. The SOPs, however, must be strictly implemented.
