Covid surge: J&K orders curfew from Apr 24-26

JAMMU: In the wake of the prevailing surge in Covid-19 cases, the Jammu & Kashmir administration announced a 34-hour curfew effective from 8pm Saturday till 6pm on April 26. The government also decided to provide Covid-19 vaccination free of cost to all persons aged 18 to 45.
Office of J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha said that essential and emergency services will be allowed during the curfew, but all markets and commercial institutions will remain closed. In a tweet, the LG office stated: “It has been decided that Covid-19 vaccination for people in the age group 18 to 45 years will be cost-free in the UT. The cost of the vaccine will be fully borne by the government of J&K. The health department will constitute a panel to work out the logistics.”
Earlier on April 8, the J&K administration had imposed night curfew from 10pm to 6am in urban areas of eight districts — Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Srinagar, Baramulla, Budgam, Anantnag and Kupwara — which was further extended to municipal and urban local bodies of all 20 districts on April 20.
On April 23, the total number of Covid-19 cases in J&K surged to 1,56,344 with 1,937 more positive cases while the death toll climbed to 2,111 with a record jump in daily deaths to 19 (13 from Jammu and 6 from Kashmir).