J&K govt declares entire Kashmir except Bandipora 'red zone' amid rising COVID-19 cases

The Jammu and Kashmir government has classified the districts into red, orange and green zones depending on the severity of COVID-19 spread in the areas and declared the entire Kashmir region, except Bandipora, as a "red zone". Kathua, Samba, Bandipora, Reasi, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts are in orange zone and Doda and Kishtwar are in green zone.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has classified the districts into red, orange and green zones depending on the severity of COVID-19 spread in the areas and declared the entire Kashmir region, except Bandipora, as a "red zone". The categorisation has been done to implement restrictions after August 5, when the current phase of lockdown in the union territory ends, according to an order issued by the chairperson of the State Executive Committee.

The order declared all districts of Kashmir, except Bandipora, and Ramban district of Jammu as red zones. Kathua, Samba, Bandipora, Reasi, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts are in orange zone and Doda and Kishtwar are in green zone. The Lakhanpur containment zone on the national highway will be a red/containment zone with a 500-metre buffer, the order stated.

It said the classification of districts has been done after a detailed review of the COVID situation with top officials, and it will be reviewed periodically. The review included the recent spike in new cases in view of the movement of people to J&K and between districts. On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 390 COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections to 22,396. Ten fatalities in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll from the disease to 417, officials said.

They said all the 10 deaths were reported from Kashmir Valley.

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