J&K BJP curbs activities in party headquarters amid rising COVID cases [Details]

Amid a surge in corona positive cases across the Union Territory (UT) of J&K in general and Jammu district in particular, the BJP has directed its leaders not to hold any meeting or function in party headquarters, situated at posh Trikuta Nagar locality in Jammu city.

The public in the office is also restricted so as to check the spread of the deadly virus.

"As of now we have restricted activities at party headquarters as a precautionary measure", former minister Priya Sethi told the International Business Times. Sethi, ex-legislator, is in charge of J&K BJP's headquarters. She, however, said that other programmes outside the party office would be held normally.

On Wednesday, BJP observed the birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar but the party preferred to organize functions in public to 'follow' Covid protocols. Although no official order has been issued by the party, leaders have been directed to avoid visiting headquarters, for the time being, to avoid a rush of the public.

Meeting of the Jammu district unit of BJP was scheduled to be held at party headquarters on Sunday but the same was held online due to a spike in cases. "We are avoiding meetings in the office due to a surge in the corona cases", Jammu district president of BJP, Vinay Gupta told International Business Times. He said that workers have been advised to remain in touch through virtual means.

During the first wave, top J&K BJP's leadership tested positive

In the month of July 2020, most of the senior leaders of J&K BJP were tested positive. Those who were tested positive included Lok Sabha members from Jammu-Poonch, Jugal Kishore Sharma, J&K president Ravinder Raina, general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul, Vivodh Gupta, general secretary and Mahila Morcha president Sangita Dogra. The party was forced to shut down its office for a week.

J&K, Ladakh register spike in cases

While J&K recorded 1086 new positive cases, the Ladakh region registered 165 new positive cases - 154 from Leh alone and 11 in Kargil district.

Four Coronavirus casualties and 402 cases were reported in the Jammu region while two deaths and 684 new cases were recorded in Kashmir. Jammu district continued to account for almost 50 percent of total cases with 199 positives followed by Reasi 85, Udhampur 37, Kathua 23, Poonch 19, Rajouri 12, Ramban seven and Doda one. The Jammu region now has 56,686 coronavirus cases. The number of active cases has reached 3,554 while 52,375 persons have recovered from the virus and there have been 757 casualties in the region.

With 165 fresh cases, the coronavirus count in Ladakh reached 11,070. There are 851 active positive cases—785 in Leh and 66 in Kargil while 10,088 persons have been treated and there have been 131 casualties, 87 of them in Leh and 44 in Kargil.