Observer Bureau
Jammu, July 18:
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday said it has decided to continue with the existing Covid-19 containment measures for the week except for allowing district magistrates to allow shops to open an hour early two days ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha on Wednesday, officials said.
The government has also decided to allow the phased opening of higher educational institutions after July 31 subject to vaccination of the students and staff.
“It has also been seen that the daily cases in the past few days have shown an uneven trend. As such, there is a need to continue with the existing Covid containment measures in these districts,” said an order by chairman state executive committee (SEC) and chief secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta.
Last week, the administration lifted the weekend curfew from 16 out of the total 20 districts of the UT.
The order had permitted all the outdoor shops and traders to open in these 16 districts on all days from 7 am to 7 pm with a daily night curfew from 8 pm onwards.
“Deputy Commissioners may allow shops as per the above order to open at 6 am instead of 7 am to avoid the rush on July 19 and 20 as per their assessment,” the order said.
The routine Covid-19 cases in J&K have come down to a large extent with daily cases remaining between 143 and 224 since July 10 and a single or two daily deaths.
The administration permitted public and private educational institutions to seek personal attendance of limited vaccinated staff for administrative purposes.
“Higher educational institutes and skill development centres may be considered for phased re-opening for onsite learning after July 31 subject to the vaccination status of the students and staff,” it said.
In a review meeting on Friday, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha directed the officials to be well-prepared in advance to deal with the possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic or any future health emergencies.
Atal Dulloo, additional chief secretary, health and medical education department informed that the positivity rate in J&K has reduced to 0.3%.
“18 districts are in Green Zone as per new set indicators with 99% of the population in 45 and above age group now vaccinated with the first dose,” he said.
