Lockdown is again a reality
The administration has once again announced measures including a complete lockdown to ensure that the covid surge witnesses some decline. On Wednesday the admin announced a complete lockdown for five days across 11 districts as the number of fresh cases and fatalities failed to show some decline over the past few days now.
Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing record number of cases from the last two weeks. This means that the hospitals that were dedicated as covid exclusive facilities during the first wave were again closed for other operations and reserved once again for the covid patients.
Still the number of cases that are admitted in these hospitals have started complaining on various fronts which includes shortage of essential medicines and oxygen in some cases as well.
However, amidst all these concerns the severe cases in Jammu and Kashmir are still on the lower side and those who need hospitalization and critical care facilities are still manageable. But the situation may not remain the same.
Given the way the administration has been acting callously over allowing people to enter the territory of Jammu and Kashmir we may soon witness a situation that can go out of hand. Right now when we write these lines hundreds of private vehicles carrying people from most infected states are entering this place on one or the other pretext.
Most of these people claim to be tourists and visitors and there are reports that they are not even checked for the virus at the designated places. This callousness can cost us dearly as we have witnessed that the administration’s approach over allowing various activities including tourism has meant that the second wave of the virus has hit the region and that too very badly.
The administration has failed to understand the situation here and in case we are faced with situations that need intervention like supply of oxygen and other essentials, we may fail quite miserably on that front as we are faced with connectivity issues as well owing to the bad condition of Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
The highway remains closed for most of the time and it is highly unlikely that massive tankers carrying oxygen supplies can run on the highway. In such a situation the administration needs to take a closer look on the way it issues lockdowns in the region.
The prime aim should be to control the spread of virus and during the second wave it is the travelers which have contributed to huge spike and that too in those areas which were declared corona free over the past several months.
KV Network
