Jammu and Kashmir extends lockdown till August 5 amid spike in COVID-19 cases

Jammu and Kashmir government extended COVID-19 lockdown restrictions till August 5, as per an order released on Friday. previous order stated that lockdown would continue till July 31.

decision was taken in light of increasing cases of Coronavirus in Union Territory. J&K registered 490 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking total number of infections over 20,000 mark, while death toll rose to 377 with 12 more fatalities, officials said. Till w re are 7,765 active cases of coronavirus, while 12,217 patients have recovered so far, according to officials.

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4G internet in J&K till August 19

In reprieve to citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, UT’s administration extended its ban on high-speed 4G internet till August 19. Internet remains restricted to 2G speed for post-paid sim cards and verified pre-paid sim cards. administration has maintained that this move is done due to rise in anti-national activities over coming weeks in view of completing one year since revocation of Article 370 and Independence Day.

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Restrictions have been put on communication links since August 5 in Jammu and Kashmir as Centre abrogated Article 370 & Article 35 A which defined permanent residents of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.  se were subsequently eased after Supreme Court upheld that continued ban on internet was 'violation of freedom of expression'. Since revocation, state-run internet provider BSNL has restored internet services throughout Kashmir valley, but with a speed of 2G with special instructions. temporary ban on social media sites was removed in March, however, complaints of inaccessibility persisted.

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(Im credits: PTI)