IOK under lockdown after virus cases rise

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Indian held Kashmir has been put under lockdown as authorities scrambled to contain the spread of coronavirus in the occupied valley, a day after a woman who had returned from Saudi Arabia tested positive for the disease.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, public transport in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian occupied Kashmir, was ordered off the roads, while markets were shut on orders of the authorities on Friday.

The steps were taken hours after a 67-year-old woman from Khanyar, who had returned on March 16 from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, tested positive for Covid-19, officials said. As she was not placed under any quarantine or isolation upon her return, the authorities had to seal off the entire neighbourhood of Khanyar within 300 metres of the affected patient’s residence, officials said.

Relatives of the infected woman who had primary contact with her have been advised to undergo tests while others, who might have had secondary contact with the patient, have been asked to undergo self-isolation for two weeks.

While educational institutions across Kashmir have already been closed, authorities in Srinagar have shut down almost all public places including gymnasiums, clubs and restaurants. Most of the 10 districts in the Valley have restrictions in place on assembly of four or more persons under Section 144 CrPC.

The same day, the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat forum urged Indian authorities to “immediately release all Kashmiri political detainees” languishing in jails on humanitarian grounds in the wake of the outbreak.

In a statement issued in Srinagar, the Hurriyat forum said crowded jails are most vulnerable in the spread of the virus among inmates, which is a matter of grave concern. The forum also appealed to the people of occupied Kashmir to strictly follow preventive measures and guidelines as suggested by medical experts.

It also asked people to stay indoors to contain the virus and prevent its spread so lives are saved and the deadly disease is prevented from spreading further. “Given the widespread negative impact of the coronavirus disease, for which it was declared pandemic, the authorities must impose an immediate ban on the entry of non-locals and foreigners to Kashmir,” it added.