With spike in COVID-19 cases, Jammu to go under weekend lockdown

Only local chemists, fruits, vegetables and dairy shops can remain open for community needs.

PTI

July 19, 2020 / 22:13 IST

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Jammu district authorities on Sunday announced a complete weekend lockdown beginning from July 24 to prevent the spread of coronavirus cases that had witnessed a spike over the past week, officials said. Jammu District Magistrate Sushma Chauhan ordered the lockdown from 6pm on all Fridays till 6 am on all Mondays beginning from the Friday falling on July 24.

“There shall be complete restriction on movement of individuals, vehicles and all activities within the entire jurisdiction of district Jammu, except the movement for emergency medical requirements for which no pass is required,” Chauhan said in an order issued here on Sunday night.

Only local chemists, fruits, vegetables and dairy shops can remain open for community needs and the passengers coming out from and going to the airport or railway station would be permitted to move upon producing their tickets.

The staff deployed at airport and railway stations (public officials and belonging to airlines) shall be allowed to move on showing valid identity proofs, the order said adding that the government employees of essential services departments, including medical services or such other departments as required by government, would be permitted to move on production of ID proof.

Chauhan said no curfew pass would be issued while there would be no restrictions on the movement of goods, carriers or oil/LPG tankers.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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