Srinagar, Nov 5 (IANS): In view of rapid increase in Covid-19 cases in J&K's Srinagar district, authorities on Friday declared 8 more areas as micro-containment zones.

District authorities said these areas fall under medical zones of Batamaloo, Zadibal, S.R Gunj, and Khanyar in Srinagar city.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, who is also the Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), said the recent spike in Covid-19 positive cases has prompted the district administration to take the step for protection of precious lives.

He said that Srinagar administration is mulling localised lockdowns in some specific areas of the city, if the number of positive cases do not decrease.

Srinagar has witnessed a spike in Covid cases in the past one week, prompting the administration to declare some areas in the city as containment zones.

Giving details, Asad said out of total active Covid-19 positive cases in J&K, about half of them come from Srinagar district only.

Cases from the other 19 districts, other than Srinagar, are either in single digits or nil.

"There are 476 active Covid-19 positive cases in only Srinagar district out of total 981 cases in J&K," he added.

Asad said currently there are 82 containment zones in Srinagar, including eight which were added on Friday.

"If people don't follow safety protocols, then Srinagar could be the reason behind the start of the third wave in J&K," he warned, asking people to follow Covid SOPs in letter and spirit and avoid large gatherings.