Baramulla administration gears up to contain alarming surge in COVID cases

Baramulla, Jan 14: Baramulla administration has initiated various measures to control the spread of virus, following an alarming spike in COVID-19 positive cases in the district during the last few days.

Among the initiatives include reaching out to religious leaders, which according to officials here, can prove phenomenal in controlling the spread of the virus.

“We arranged a meeting with the religious leaders on Thursday. The religious leaders were informed about their role in combating the spread of the virus. They have cooperated with the administration in the past also and pledged their support in spreading the message of COVID19 Appropriate Behaviour,” said Bhupinder Kumar Deputy Commissioner Baramulla.

Baramulla district has been witnessing a steep rise in COVID 19 positive cases for the past one week. The district has emerged second after Srinagar in reporting the highest number of positive cases during the last few days.

As per official figures, in the last five days, Baramulla recorded 761 positive cases, besides, the first Omicron infected patient too was detected in the district.

Following the surge in positive cases, the authorities here deferred the much awaited Skiing Championship, which was scheduled to start from January 17 in Gulmarg. The decision was taken after around 70 student-participants besides some officials tested positive.

The picturesque tourist resort Gulmarg, which saw massive footprints of tourists this winter especially since the beginning of this year, too is witnessing cancellation of bookings in the wake of an alarming surge in positive cases across the country.

“The tourist influx this winter was satisfactory and almost all hotels had full occupancy. Several hotels have pre-bookings up to next-month however, following spread of the virus throughout the country scores of tourists have now started cancelling their bookings. If the spread of the virus continues at this pace, then it will be a massive blow to winter tourism in Gulmarg,” said a hotelier in Gulmarg.

While Baramulla district administration has started a massive ‘precaution dose’ drive, the health officials have appealed to common people to adhere to the SOPs – the only weapon available in fighting the virus.

“The observance of SOPs becomes extremely important under such circumstances. We can defeat the third wave easily provided we don’t lower our guard,” said a health official.