Locality sealed after 4 test positive for Covid-19 in Mardan

MARDAN: The police sealed a mohallah and started screening of the residents after four members of a family in the locality reported positive for the coronavirus test, sources said on Thursday.

They said that one Shakirullah, an employee of the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Mardan, and resident of Mohallah Amukhel in Mayar, had died a few days ago. Later, the swabs of four members of his family, including mother of the deceased, his wife and two children, were collected and sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, for coronavirus test. The sources added that tests of the four relatives turned to be Covid-19 positive hence they were shifted to the quarantine centre established at the Abdul Wali Khan University.

Talking to The News, former lawmaker Obaid Khan Mayar said that Shakirullah had expired at hospital a few days ago and later his funeral and fateha was held at Lika Tiga village in Toru Maira. The deceased, he added, was buried at a graveyard in Mayar that was why both the localities were suspected to have been infected by the fast-spreading viral disease. He said the localities had been sealed and 35 persons had been screened for the infectious disease so far.