The city police chief, Ghulam Nabi Memon, held a meeting on the COVID-19 emergency situation in his office on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by the DIGs of Karachi’s east, west and south districts along with their SSPs.
Officials said the meeting took into consideration the steps so far taken to keep citizens safe from the coronavirus epidemic. The meeting took some important decisions to implement the directives of the Sindh government issued in this connection.
The meeting decided that in the first stage, all police checkpoints in the city during the lockdown would be sealed while vehicular traffic would be allowed on a single lane for the passage of traffic related to ambulance service, police, other law-enforcement agencies, and journalists.
The directive for the social distancing should be followed by the police during the checking of vehicles at the checkpoints so to keep policemen and citizens equally protected against the COVID-19, and that the policemen deputed at the checkpoints would treat citizens in a polite manner, the meeting reiterated.
The meeting decided that the directives related to the provision of quality food service to policemen deputed at the checkpoints would be strictly followed, and that the senior police officers while maintaining the social distancing should eat food at the checkpoints so to personally check its quality.
The policemen deputed at the checkpoints should be protected against sunshine with the provision of the sunshade umbrellas, and that all SOPs should be strictly observed to keep the police force safe from the COVID-19, they maintained.
The Karachi police chief appreciated the working of the medical team of police for the upkeep of the health of the policemen during the COVID-19 emergency.
Earlier, Talking to The News, Additional IG Memon said seven officials of the Sindh Police Department were found to have been infected with the virus.
He said the cops had not been performing the lockdown duties, but they had been deployed as drivers or working at offices of various units of the Karachi police. He said the cops were at their homes when they contracted the disease.
“The patients include a driver of the Karachi police administration department, a personal staff officer, a gunman and a staffer of the investigation department,” Memon said, adding that clear directions had been issued to them to adopt preventives measures, including the wearing of masks and gloves, and maintaining distance from each other.
Moreover, he said, he had planned to give a day-off to officials who were performing duties at this crucial time considering their health.
It had been decided that all SHOs and deputy superintendents of police posted in Karachi would get the facility of a weekly day-off like the holiday facility available to people associated with other services, he added.
Similarly, the Karachi police chief has decided that all police personnel would get the facility of the weekly day-off. In this regard, the Karachi police department has given orders to all DIGs and SSPs posted in Karachi. Under the new plan of service, the DSPs will get the facility of the weekly day-off on Saturdays while the SHOs will get it on Sundays.