Night curfew extended by 2 hours, paid parks closed
13 Kumbh Mela returnees, 8 of ex-Minister’s family infected
11 from Adarsh Enclave, 6 jawans of CRPF Hqrs, 3 HDFC staffers +ve
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 25: Jammu and Kashmir today recorded an all-time high single-day 24 COVID deaths, one more than previous record of 23 on September 23 last year, and 2381 fresh cases as the Government extended night curfew timings by two hours and ordered closure of paid public parks while the Jammu district administration revised roster for alternate opening of shops.
Fourteen Corona deaths and 848 cases were reported from Jammu region.
Jammu district continued to be hotspot with 13 out of 14 fatalities in the region and 449 of 848 new cases, which comes out at more than 50 per cent of the division’s total. One Corona death was reported from Kathua.
Among 14 COVID fatalities in the Jammu region, significantly 13 were reported in Jammu district alone and four of them were women. Eleven persons died of COVID during the day while three succumbed to the virus late tonight. Four persons died at home and were shifted to the hospitals by the family members later.
An 80-year-old man from Shiv Nagar, 85-year-old from Trikuta Nagar, 88-year-old from Bakshi Nagar and youth from Bahu Fort in Jammu district were brought dead to the hospitals. All of them had died of COVID Pneumonia.
Seven persons succumbed to the virus in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu today, Medical Superintendent Dr Dara Singh said. They include 72-year-old man from Nanak Nagar, 85-year-old from Sarwal, 48-year-old man from Talab Tillo, 45-year-old woman from Domana, 71-year-old female from Ward No. 8 Akhnoor, 65-year-old man from Baran Kot Bhalwal and 85-year-old male from Ambphalla, all in Jammu district. They were co-morbid and had tested positive for pathogen during the treatment.
A 50-year-old woman from Gahari Bisnah Jourian in Akhnoor died of COVID-19 at ASCOMS Sidhra while an 88-year-old man from Jammu died in the Military Hospital Satwari. A 69-year-old woman hailing from Mukundpur Marheen in Kathua district died of ailments and Coronavirus in AK Gupta Hospital Kathua.
Meanwhile, State Executive Committee (SEC) this evening ordered that night curfew timings within Municipal/Urban Local Body limits in all districts of Jammu and Kashmir will be from 8 pm to 6 am instead of earlier 10 pm to 6 am.
SEC Member-Secretary Simrandeep Singh said that all paid public parks across the UT will remain closed for visitors till further orders.
District Magistrate Jammu Anshul Garg tonight ordered revision of roster for market complexes, shops and malls in the Municipal areas of Jammu which will be effective from April 26. The revision was based on suggestions received from stakeholders for modifications in roster to accommodate various trades and standalone shops, he said.
All establishments other than exempted category will remain closed on Sunday, he said.
In Rajouri district, 13 persons who had returned from Kumbh Mela in Haridwar tested positive for COVID-19 at Sunderbani while eight members of former Minister Thakur Puran Singh’s family and relatives were also found infected. Singh had died of COVID-19 after returning from Kumbh Mela few days back.
Eleven persons from Adarsh Enclave Trikuta Nagar, six CRPF jawans from Bantalab Headquarters and three from HDFC Bank Bahu Plaza today tested positive for the virus.
Additional District Magistrate Rajouri Thakur Sher Singh has declared Ward No. 4 in Siot, Mohalla Jogi Nalla in Ward No. 4 at Sunderbani and village Biji Kewal in Ward No. 3 at Koteranka in Rajouri district as micro-Containment Zones after COVID positive cases were detected there.
Entire Jammu region remained shut except emergency services and exempted categories in view of 34-hour long Corona curfew imposed by the Government in the entire Union Territory from 8 pm Saturday to 6 am Monday.
All shops and business establishments except Chemists were closed in the entire region. All kind of transport barring some private vehicles remained off the roads.
As it is the marriage season in most parts of Jammu, the ‘barats’ could be seen breaking otherwise silence on the roads. The Government had yesterday permitted marriage functions during Corona curfew by showing wedding cards/identity cards. However, there was restriction of 50 persons on indoor functions and 100 on outdoors.
As many as 69 tourists/travelers tested positive in Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir, in Kathua district today including 29 hailing from Punjab, seven Bihar, five Himachal Pradesh, three Uttar Pradesh, two Rajasthan and one each Haryana, New Delhi, Gujarat and Assam.
Apart from Jammu district, Rajouri, Udhampur, Kathua, Reasi and Poonch have also shown considerable spike in Coronavirus cases.
District-wise cases include 449 in Jammu, 98 Rajouri, 57 Udhampur, 50 each Kathua and Ramban, 49 Reasi, 39 Samba, 37 Poonch, 14 Doda and five in Kishtwar district.
However, 227 persons recovered from the virus in Jammu region today, the maximum 120 being in Jammu district, 30 Kathua, 28 each Udhampur and Ramban, 11 Poonch, six Rajouri and four in Doda district.
Jammu region now has 64518 Corona cases. With surge, number of active cases has gone up to 8189 while there have been 55515 recoveries.
Today’s 14 casualties have taken the region’s Corona toll to 817, the highest being 434 in Jammu district followed by 65 Doda, 61 Udhampur, 59 each Rajouri and Kathua, 46 Samba, 31 Poonch, 23 Ramban, 22 Kishtwar and 17 in Reasi district.
Meanwhile, one person died of COVID in Leh district today taking Corona toll in the Union Territory of Ladakh to 136 including 92 in Leh and 44 in Kargil.
Among 148 new cases, 140 were reported from Leh and eight in Kargil district taking the UT’s Corona count to 13237. The active cases have gone up to 1972 while 11129 persons have recovered from the virus.
The Sub Divisional Magistrate Khaltsi in Leh today declared GREF Campus Khaltsi as micro-Containment Zone after detection of COVID cases there.
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