Out of 517 new cases, 421 reported from Kashmir, 173 in Srinagar alone; 5 more succumb to deadly virus
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded 517 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 1,31,938, while five fresh fatalities took the death toll to 2,003, officials said.
Out of the fresh cases, 421 were reported from the Kashmir Valley and 96 were from Jammu Division of the union territory, they said.
The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 173 COVID-19 cases, including 46 travellers, followed by 88 in Budgam district, 86 in Baramulla district and 62 in Jammu.
Three districts did not report any fresh cases, while eight other districts had cases in single digits. Anantnag, Kulgam, Kupwara, Bandipora and Kathua were the other districts to register cases in double digits.
The number of active cases has now reached 3,215 in the union territory, while 1,26,720 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.
The death toll in the union territory due to the pandemic is 2,003 as five fresh deaths — four from Kashmir and one form Jammu — were reported in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, in the wake of spike in Covid-19 cases in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Territory administration has asked district magistrates to take a call on the continuation of physical classes in schools in their areas, considering students’ safety.
The J&K administration issued the direction after dozens of students and teachers tested positive for coronavirus in different districts, mostly in Anantnag, Kulgam and Budgam over the past couple of days.
“All district magistrates/District Disaster Management Authorities’ chairmen in J&K shall take a call on the continuation of academic activities i.e. physical classes or online classes in their respective jurisdictions, keeping in view the safety of students and present trend of Covid-19 pandemic in different districts,” a government order said on Friday.
The order, issued by Deputy Secretary Umesh Sharma of the School Education Department, said the Chief Education Officer and other authorities would assist district magistrates in taking such decisions.
The order referred to the earlier government orders and guidelines on Covid-19 containment measures and said it has been observed that the surge of the pandemic has wide variation among districts.
