Trade centres remain closed in KP to prevent coronavirus spread

PESHAWAR: Most of the trade centres in the provincial capital and other districts remained closed after the decision of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to shut down markets till Tuesday in a bid to ensure social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

A notification to close all the markets was issued by the Department of Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement late on Saturday. The order stated that the markets will remain closed till 9 am on March 24.

“The action was taken in continuation of emergency under the NDMA (KP) Act 2010 to stop people from gathering so they remain at home and adopt social distancing,” said a senior official of the Relief, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Department. The trade centres in Saddar, University Road, Chowk Yadgar, Qissa Khwani, Khyber Bazaar, Hashtnagri, Ramdas, Karkhano Market and other busy markets remained closed. The grocery shops, pharmacies, milk shops, bakeries, meat shops, flour machines, and auto workshops were open.

Special teams of police and administration were constituted to ensure closure of markets and stop people from gathering in large numbers. The teams continued to patrol the city and suburbs of Peshawar and other districts on Sunday.

The district administration and police on Sunday also stopped weddings in different parts of Peshawar and other areas. In Peshawar some people had arranged a lunch for guests when the police and administration officials raided the place. They removed the tents and asked the guests to leave. The cops across the province were directed to raise awareness among people regarding coronavirus.

The intra-district public transport was also suspended for seven days in a bid to stop people from gathering and travelling together in large numbers. All the district administrations were directed to implement the order to stop the spread of the virus.

The government had closed down all the wedding halls along with parks, schools, hostels and other public places a week ago.

People were asked not to gather to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. Still many people arranged weddings and hosted guests at their places on the weekend, which is the favourite time to arrange such events to avail the weekly holidays.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police, Sanaullah Abbasi chaired a videoconference on coronavirus.

He directed the cops deployed at the quarantine centres and other places to take precautionary measures, use sanitisers and wear facemasks. The provincial police chief directed the officials to launch an awareness campaign among the public and educate them on how to stay safe.