Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 21

The Kashmir valley remained deserted as an unprecedented lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus entered its second day on Saturday. More people arriving in the region were put under quarantine.

For the second consecutive day, markets remained closed in Srinagar — a city of more than a million people which is observing an almost complete shutdown.

Police and paramilitary personnel remained stationed in the region and had blocked roads across the city to prevent the gatherings of people.

The lockdown began on Friday in Srinagar after the first positive coronavirus case was reported on Wednesday. All educational institutes in the region remain closed.

Apart from Srinagar, several other districts in south and north Kashmir have also imposed Section 144 which restricts large gatherings.

As the region battles the spread of coronavirus, more people arriving in the region were put under quarantine as part of widespread preventive measures.

An official of the Srinagar civil administration said 225 people, who arrived in the city from Bangladesh and other countries on Saturday, were “isolated to undergo quarantine”.

More than 600 people now remain isolated at 50 quarantine facilities set up in the city. The administration has also invoked Disaster Management Act-2005 to meet the growing challenges caused by the threat.

As part of the latest measures, Srinagar District Magistrate Shahid Choudhary also ordered cancellation of all gazetted holidays in the city with an aim “to strengthen the response apparatus”.

The administration has released Rs 3 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund to strengthen the response mechanism against the spread of the coronavirus. The fund will be utilised to procure “requisite equipment and items for effective response mechanism”, the official said.