COVID-19: 292 people shifted to Kashmir from Kathua quarantine centre

As many as 292 people from Kashmir, who were quarantined in Kathua for COVID-19, were shifted to their respective districts in the Valley on Wednesday, officials said.

The decision to shift 1,545 people from Kathua district quarantine centre to Kashmir was taken when the nationwide lockdown was announced to fight against the coronavirus.

The step was also taken to ease the load on Kathua district administration as over 3,500 people were lodged here in a quarantine centre, including those who crossed the interstate border from Punjab to Jammu and Kashmir after the declaration of complete lockdown.

As per the officials, the residents of Kashmir who were under quarantine had appealed to the administration to shift them to the Valley so that they can remain close to their families.In the first step, a group of 292 locals from Kashmir who have completed 6 days to 10 days in quarantine center were shifted to the Valley in their personal vehicles amid tight security.Deputy Commissioner of Kathua, OP Bhagat, said that a first group has moved for Kashmir and the remaining people will be shifted to Kashmir gradually.

He said that after their arrival to Kashmir it is the responsibility of local administration to arrange quarantine facilities for them as well as to administer them.The locals from Kashmir also expressed happiness over them being shifted to the Valley.

"We are happy that the administration paid heed to our demand. We will be back to our families. We faced no issues in Kathua, we were given food at a time and everyone looked after us so well," said one of the locals.