Any relaxation in lockdown after April 20 unlikely in Kashmir

Authorities in Kashmir see little possibility of any relaxation in the ongoing lockdown beyond April 20 because of the number of hotspots in various districts of the valley. Kashmir Divisional Commissioner P.K. Pole said every district in Kashmir has more than one hotspot and given the national protocol, it is unlikely that there would be any relaxation in the lockdown beyond April 20.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who announced extension of the countywide lockdown till May 3, has said a call on relaxation in the ongoing lockdown would be taken after the situation is reviewed again on April 20.

Health department officials say, although many parts of the Kashmir Valley have lesser number of cases yet the clusters affected by the virus have the potential of spreading further.

Those directly engaged in the fight against COVID-19 believe unless the testing process reaches such numbers where we get a comparatively dependable sample size it would be disastrous to think of any relaxation till such times.

"We have no clue about how many asymptomatic cases are still out there in the Valley.

"Given this situation any decision to relax the lockdown even area-wise would be most ill-informed and fraught with serious implications", said doctor Parvaiz Koul, noted pulmonologist of Kashmir.

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