Anxiety, fear loom large as virus count sees spike in Jammu district
It has been a little over a month since Jammu district reported the Union Territory’s first case of Covid-19. The woman tested positive for the coronavirus on March 8. She is from Kargil district in Ladakh, but had been putting up in the heart of Jammu city and had a foreign travel history.
Since then, the situation has completely changed on the ground as the district has so far reported 22 cases of the virus, including a doctor and non-locals. Only seven of them, including a pregnant woman, are the natives of Jammu district. The total number of people who have tested positive in J&K has reached 214 and the UT has reported four deaths — three in Kashmir and one in Jammu. Markets and lanes in congested parts of Jammu city, one of main commercial hubs in the Union Territory, wear a deserted look. All roads are dotted with concertina wires to restrict the movement of people. Uncertainty and fear have gripped the people due to the sudden spike in the number of the virus cases in the past one week. If one thoroughly studies the trend of the spread of the coronavirus in Jammu, it has come to the fore that those who have tested positive are either contacts of the infected persons with a travel history or those who attended the Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi.
A man, 75, was the second person to test positive for the coronavirus in J&K. He had come in contact with the Kargil woman who had returned from a pilgrimage in Iran. He was tested positive on March 13.
The presence of Tablighi Jamaat members in some parts of the city has also added to the woes of the administration. Thirteen persons, who were part of the Tablighi Jamaat and were residing in the Sunjuwan area, have tested positive for the virus. It forced the administration to declare the Sunjuwan and Bathindi areas as the red zone, restricting the movement of people completely to contain the spread of the disease.
Three more areas of Jammu city, Gujjar Nagar, Sarwal and Janipura, have also been declared as red zones as a part of the government’s efforts to strengthen containment operations.
