J&K allows colleges to resume offline classes
Only fully-vaccinated staff, students can come to ‘limited on-site’ classes in higher edu institutes
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday allowed institutes of higher education to resume “limited on-site” classes provided the students and staff are fully vaccinated. The administration, however, extended the closure of schools and coaching centres till further orders.
Other educational institutions can allow attendance of vaccinated staff for administrative purposes.The institutions have been asked to organise vaccination camps in consultation with district administrations.
In a series of measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 infection, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on April 18 had ordered closure of all educational institutions, including universities and colleges, till further orders
The decisions were taken at a chaired by chief secretary AK Mehta. He reiterated the need to continue with Covid containment measures in all the districts “in view of the uneven trend observed in daily Covid cases.” As per the latest orders, the maximum number of people permitted to attend any indoor or outdoor gathering shall continue to be restricted to 25 and while night curfew shall continue to remain in force in all the districts between 8pm to 7am, there shall be no weekend curfew in any district.
It also decided to dispense with the mandatory testing for Covid at the entry point to the Union Territory at Lakhanpur for those who have received both dosages of vaccine and allow entry of vaccinated persons into public parks.District magistrates were directed to strictly ensure that there is full compliance with Covid-appropriate behaviour and defaulters are firmly dealt with under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Directing for ‘no drop’ in Cov id-19 testing levels, Mehta said deputy commissioners would also focus on the positivity rates of the medical-blocks under their jurisdictions.
The order said the DCs would keep active track of the positivity rates in blocks and consider implementing stricter control measures in closed clustered spaces like public or private offices, community halls, malls and bazaars in case weekly positivity rate goes beyond 4% in these blocks. The officials have been asked to also focus on second dose vaccination.
J&K sees 169 fresh cases
SRINAGAR : Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday recorded 169 fresh novel coronavirus infections and a single virus-related death.
The Valley detected 145 cases, of which 65 were detected in Srinagar, while Jammu recorded 24 infections. So far, 103 people have been cured in J&K, while the number of active positive cases has reached 1,276.
At 448, Srinagar has the highest number of active cases, followed by Baramulla (122). The recovery rate stands at 98.25%. The overall cases in J&K have reached 3,25,148, while the death toll stands at 4,407.
HP logs 123 more cases
DHARAMSHALA: Himachal Pradesh recorded 123 fresh coronavirus infections on Sunday, taking the state’s tally to 2,13,245, while the death toll mounted to 3,576 after one patient succumbed to the contagion.
Of the new cases, 35 were reported in Mandi, 24 in Kangra, 23 in Hamirpur, 13 in Shimla, eight in Chamba, five in Kullu, four each in Lahaul-Spiti, Solan and Una, and three in Bilaspur. No case was reported in Kinnaur and Sirmaur.