Coronavirus outbreak has alarmed the whole world and led the affected countries to take measures to control it from spreading. It has now been declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation as it rapidly spread from its origin and affected many nations. Declaration by WHO has many political and economic ramifications. In past few weeks the number of cases outside China has increased thirteen fold and the number of affected countries has tripled. The number is continuously increasing. The disease has influenced the economic market and trade which has further impacted the already fragile economies. It has impacted even the world’s biggest market economies – Europe and North America. It is expected that global economy will grow 2.4% in 2020 dropped from 2.9% projected earlier. The virus also impacted politics, has restricted travel across the nations and there is a blame game going on between USA and China.
India got its first Coronavirus case on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala and the affected persons had a travel history from Wuhan China, since then the cases are continuously increasing. India has also taken some precautionary measures like restrictions on large gatherings and closure of malls, gyms, movie theatres and swimming pools. Besides India evacuated its citizens from affected countries after the outbreak of disease. India has cancelled visas from China and advised to avoid going to China. The virus has impacted India-China trade, the largest exporter to India.
Kashmir is also under surveillance. Many steps have been taken like checking the travel history of people coming from outside. Some persons have been quarantined by health authorities in Kashmir after they showed symptoms of disease , till now many persons have been tested in Kashmir, and a case has tested positive. However, the mounting concerns with regard to virus, the Kashmir administration has taken steps to prevent its spread, awareness campaigns have been started district wise which is appreciative. What worries us every time is education sector, that in Kashmir always remains shut for one or the other reason. Amid this scare Jammu and Kashmir, like Delhi, decided to close schools till 31 March. Kashmir ordered closure of schools, colleges and universities, two steps ahead of Delhi. It is necessary to take precautionary measures against the disease. We should now look for alternatives. UN’s education body UNESCO had last week expressed its concern over Covid 19 impact on education; they are worried about educational disruption in general. So far J&K education sector which has immensely suffered due to last year’s central government decision has to further suffer owing to Coronavirus. Political situation cannot be compared to health issues, but when it comes to education, it is badly hit in all times in the valley. Jammu and Kashmir administration should think about how to minimise the loss on this count.
Qurat ul Ain is a Research Scholar at Department of Political Science, University of Kashmir