Night curbs in all J&K districts; over 2,000 cases reported

Jammu, April 20

The J&K administration on Tuesday extended the ongoing night curfew to all municipal and urban local body limits in 20 districts in view of the spike in Covid cases. J&K recorded its highest single-day spike of 2,030 cases, including 352 travellers, taking the infection tally in the UT past 1.50 lakh. They said eight more fatalities were registered in a span of 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 2,071.

"The night curfew shall be extended to all municipal and urban local body limits of all 20 districts. It was already in force in eight districts from 10 pm to 6 am," the LG office tweeted.

It also said that public transport (matadors/mini-buses/buses) shall be permitted to ply only at 50 per cent of its authorised seating capacity. The DSPs shall ensure compliance, it added.

"Only 50% shops in market complexes/bazaars/malls within the municipal limits/urban local body limits shall be open on an alternate basis through a rotation system," it said in another tweet. It directed all the district magistrates to devise a mechanism to implement this, "preferably in consultation with local market associations".

Meanwhile, Ladakh saw 175 new Covid cases, taking its overall infection tally to 12,306. The number of active cases stands at 1,699 — 1,631 in Leh and 68 in Kargil. — PTI

Seven contractors booked for violation

Leh: The Ladakh administration has booked seven General Reserve Engineer Force contractors for allegedly violating Covid guidelines

They are said to have brought labourers without having their negative RT-PCR reports, officials said. PTI