Kohistan districts corona-free due to effective measures, say officials

MANSEHRA: The strong coordination among government departments and strict enforcement of the lockdown measures have kept the Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas away from Covid-19, officials said on Tuesday.

“Being situated on the Karakoram Highway, both Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan are highly vulnerable to Covid-19, but because of effective sealing of all entry and exit points, not a single pandemic case has been reported from the districts,” Dr Taj Mohammad, the District Health Officer, Upper Kohistan, told reporters on Tuesday. He said since police ensured inter and intra-district travelling ban and people of hundreds of valleys stayed home due to non-availability of transport, which was one of the major reasons behind the major achievement.

“The police have effectively sealed the boundary between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan at Bhasha, which also kept all three Kohistan districts away from the pandemic and not a single positive case has been reported as yet,” said the official.

He said that Upper Kohistan was the only district across the province where all expatriates, whose list was provided by the government were traced and quarantined effectively. “We are still ready to meet any emergency and have established six quarantine centres and two isolation wards one each at Rural Health Centre Dasu and Rural Health Centre Shatial,” said Dr Taj. District Health Officer of Lower Kohistan, Dr Mohammad Geer, told reporters that Mutta Banda and Chakai entry and exit points situated on the KKH had been effectively sealed by administration. “We have established two quarantine centres and have strong working relations within Health Department and district administrations of Upper Kohistan and Kolai-Palas to get the desired results,” said, Dr Mohammad Geer.