2,255 cases reported in 24 hours: Sindh seals malls, markets

KARACHI: On the direction of Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Sahallwani, several markets and shops were sealed on Wednesday evening in the District South and East for blatantly violating the social distancing order for the past two days. 

Zainab Market, the Victoria Center, the International Center, Madina City Mall in Saddar were sealed. Also, Haram Center and Gul Plaza were sealed in the Garden area while Jillani Center in Arambagh area was also sealed. Two beauty parlours have also been sealed in the District South. The Sindh government has yet not allowed beauty parlours and saloons to operate.

Meanwhile, in the District East, a shoe plant and shoe shop have been sealed. Since two days, the so-called smart lockdown has become a joke as markets and retail outlets across the city have been found blatantly violating the SOPs, including arguably the most essential rule of observing social distancing. On the third day of the smart lockdown on Wednesday, the people of Karachi thronged different garment markets for Eid shopping.

On the other hand, traders and shopkeepers lamented that it was nearly impossible to follow social distancing considering structure of their shops and markets. There are narrow streets and extreme small shops in which scores of buyers enter at a time and this is how generally Eid’s shopping is done. Muhammad Umair owns a shop of jeans and T-shirts in Zainab Market and has arranged gloves, masks and sanitizers for himself and for all his staff. “When thousands of customers make their way inside the market, how can two-to-three shopkeepers can control them?” he asked adding that he and his shopkeepers are all abiding by all the governmental SOPs. There’s a common perception among buyers that after Yaum-e-Ali, there will be a strict lockdown again. That is the reason, he said that buyers are flocking towards the garment shops so they can buy clothes for Eid. “Entire family of five-to-six persons enters our shops and each and every family member has to buy some,” he pointed out. “How can we ask them to come one by one?”

The garment traders during the lockdown, according to him, have incurred losses of millions of rupees. “Now we have just these 10 days to earn whatever we can,” he said. The Zainab Market, Victoria Center, International Center and Madina Mall have separate associations. Speaking to The News, president of the Victoria Welfare Association, Raheel Paracha said that the media gave a wrong impression that garment traders had protested against the sealing. “It is obvious that after the closure of shops by the assistant commissioner, the shopkeepers will come outside,” he said adding that it was already 3:30pm and by that time, the shops were generally shutting down. “The rush was misinterpreted as a protest by the shopkeepers.”

Paracha said that they will meet the commissioner today [Thursday] and will give affidavits assuring that all SOPs will be followed. Every market, he shared, has five entrance and exit gates. “We have collectively decided to keep only two gates open. One for entrance and one for exit,” he said adding that this way they’d try to control the gathering of buyers inside the markets.

The president of the welfare alliance said that they had deployed guards outside markets who ask buyers to wear masks and use sanitizers. “The buyers simply don’t listen to us,” he said adding that only inside the Victoria Center, there are 190 retail shops and 250 wholesale outlets. “Each retail shop is about 90-to-100 square foot,” he pointed out adding that it becomes really difficult for shopkeepers to control buyers in such small shops.

According to a press statement from commissioner Karachi’s office, several shops and markets have been sealed in the District South and East for violating Standard Operating Procedures regarding the novel coronavirus. The commissioner has directed officials to take strict action against those violating the social distancing orders. Shallwani summoned representatives of different traders alliances at his office and asked them to play their role in enforcing the SOPs issued by the Sindh government. “Against those shopkeepers who don’t abide by the SOPs, action will be taken,” said the commissioner adding that their shops will be sealed. “The government gave the permission to continue businesses only after representative of traders’ alliances assured that the SOPs will be followed,” said the commissioner. “The violation of SOPs cannot be ignored.”

Meanwhile, the statement added that in the meeting the traders assured the commissioner that they were trying their best to make sure that shopkeepers follow the SOPs issued by the government. The commissioner also appealed to buyers and citizens to follow the social distancing SOPs, as it is for their own benefit. He also asked shopkeepers and traders not to let buyers without masks inside their shops.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Wednesday approved an ordinance to amend the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act-2014 under which any person involved in an act of wilful transmission/spread of any infection disease in the province, including coronavirus, could face fine up to Rs one million.

The ordinance, after approval of Sindh governor, will be applicable all over the province. The Sindh cabinet in its meeting held on April 27th had approved the draft of the ordinance. A person or institution involved in the wilful act of transmission of any of the infectious diseases could face fine ranging from Rs 200,000 to Rs one million. A person or institution could face fine twice if it is found again wilfully involved in spread of infectious disease. Instead of the levy of the fine, movable, immovable, or perishable property could be attached by the government as a penalty for violating the orders passed under the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act-2014.

A person infected with coronavirus could face fine under this ordinance if he or she violates the isolation or quarantine orders of the government. Likewise, an institution could face penalty under this ordinance if the spread of infection takes place among its workers due to the lack of precautionary measures or violation of the Standard Operating Procedures related to the lockdown regime.

The authorized officer will duly provide concrete reasons in writing if he or she decides to levy the fine under the ordinance.

It is worth mentioning here that the anti-coronavirus lockdown measures have been enforced in the province since March, 2020 under the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act-2014. So the fine prescribed under the new ordinance will be applicable if in case any person or institution is found violating the lockdown measures of the Sindh government. The ordinance in question is applicable from 1st May, 2020.

Also, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh has said that the way things are moving it seems that the provincial government will have to once more enforce complete lockdown in the province before Eidul Fitr.

Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, the Sindh energy minister said that the provincial government was being compelled to enforce complete lockdown in the province. The minister said that it was the third consecutive day that the concerned traders in Karachi were being warned to follow the SOPs related to the shopping activities.

He said that whosoever violated the Standard Operating Procedures related to anti-coronavirus lockdown would have to face action of the government. He said that leaders of traders had given proper undertaking to the government that they would fully act upon the SOPs in order to secure relaxation in the lockdown measures in the province. “Nobody has the realization as what is happening now,” he said. He said that both the traders and customers had been involved in violation of SOPs. “People are not aware how much damage will be caused due to overcrowding in the markets,” he said. He said that implementation on the SOPs was compulsory for protection of both the customers and retailers against the coronavirus.

In a separate statement, Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that traders had been under strict obligation to ensure implementation of SOPs during the business activities. He said that the relaxation in the lockdown measures had been introduced in view of the pressing hardships of traders. He said that lockdown measures could once more be made stringent in case of violation of the lockdown SOPs. He said that customer overcrowding had been seen in many markets of the city, which was in violation of the accord reached between the traders and the provincial government before easing of the lockdown regime.

The provincial minister said that the Sindh government could not allow any irresponsible act or carelessness in the province as far as observance of the SOPs was concerned. He said that even if the lockdown measures had been eased, the provincial government had been more proactive than the past to get the SOPs implemented.

The minister asked people from various walks of life to duly observe the lockdown measures and render fullest support to the government in observance of the SOPs.

He once more appealed to the concerned traders that they should not take any undue advantage in relaxation in the lockdown measures in the province as the Sindh government would be left with no option other than once more imposing harsh lockdown measures.

He claimed that the Sindh government had been acting upon its sole objective i.e. to safeguard lives and health of the masses against the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Punjab issued the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for barber shops, hair and beauty salons/parlours and gymnasiums and health clubs to be followed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The provincial authorities have allowed them to resume operations after the restrictions in lockdown were eased from Monday.

The National Coordination Committee (NCC) had decided last week to begin a phased lifting of lockdown because of the effect it was having on the economy and an impoverished workforce.

Following the NCC decision, all the provincial governments allowed small markets to open with certain guidelines.

The Punjab government Wednesday issued three different notifications for the barbershops, hair salons and gyms providing detailed guidelines. The service providers are bound to ensure availability of hand sanitisers, soaps, masks and gloves for all the customers and workers.

Meanwhile, Pakistan reported a record number of 2,255 coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, as the spread of the infection through local transmission showed a dangerous upward trajectory in a recent report published by the World Health Organisation Pakistan Chapter.

The report presented a dismal picture in terms of local transmission cases in Pakistan, province by province, on a weekly basis.

The report showed that Balochistan had the highest rate of local transmission at 93 percent, and only 7 percent were imported cases.

At second number was Sindh, where 92 percent were local transmissions and 8 percent imported cases.In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 84 percent were instances of the virus being locally passed on while 16 percent cases were foreign.

In the worst-hit Punjab, 15 percent were foreign cases while 85 percent of the reported cases had emerged through local transmission.In Gilgit-Baltistan, 37 percent were imported cases while 63 percent were of local transmission. Meanwhile, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 17 percent were foreign cases while 83 percent were passed on locally.

Pakistan’s testing capacity has faced a downward trajectory after peaking at an estimated 13,000 on May 9, according to the report.On May 10 and 11, the number of tests dropped, fluctuating between 11,000 to 10,000.

The report said that Pakistan had 1,140 new cases of the coronavirus on May 11, 2020, which showed a reduction in number from 1,991 cases reported on May 9 — around 42.71 percent. The number of cases reported since the beginning of the outbreak was 35,303 with 706 deaths (as per the report’s filing time). According to the breakdown, 6,661 were confirmed cases of hospitalisation, with 281 reportedly in a critical condition.

The report estimated that 16,159 were positive cases either at home or isolation facilities. It also said that 26.66 percent of the total cases, which stands at 8,555, were discharged after recovery. As of May 13, Pakistan reported more than 34,000 cases of the virus with more than 700 deaths. Meanwhile, death toll from the coronavirus has reached 275 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as eight more people died of the fatal disease on Wednesday. Also, the number of infected people continued to rise as 231 more people were diagnosed with COVID-19, raising the number of positive cases to 5,252 in the province.

Sources in the three tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar told The News that they noticed a rise in the number of patients on Wednesday.Of eight fatalities, four took place in Peshawar, two in Nowshera and one each in Lower Dir and Khyber districts.

Peshawar continued to suffer from coronavirus as out of 231 positive cases reported from KP, 112 came from Peshawar alone. It has lost 164 people so far to Covid-19. Two other districts in the Peshawar Division, Nowshera and Khyber also reported the highest number of positive cases in the province. Nowshera recorded 19 cases while 15 positive cases were reported from Khyber.

The virus seems to have spread to almost every corner of the province as most of the districts reported positive cases.Abbottabad reported 18 cases while Mansehra and Haripur recorded 10 each positive cases of coronavirus.

Other districts including Bajaur reported eight positive cases, Dera Ismail Khan five, Upper Dir four, Buner three, Swat one, Swabi four and Mardan three.

In KP, the majority of positive cases, 2,399, are reported from the Peshawar Division, followed by the Malakand Division with 1,259 cases.

In the Peshawar Division, 180 people have died of the infectious disease till date, 44 in the Malakand Division, 15 in the Hazara Division, 25 in Mardan Division, 7 in Kohat Division, and one person in DI Khan Division.

As of today May 13 2020, the case fatality rate (CFR) in KP was 5.23 as compared to yesterday’s 5.31 (the most in the country) (confirmed cases: 5252 that is 231 new confirmed cases, deaths: 275 that is 08 new deaths which is still the most in the country.

CFR in Peshawar was 7.85 as compared to Thursday’s 8.10 (the most in any city of Pakistan) (confirmed cases: 2087 that is 112 new confirmed cases, deaths: 164 that is 04 new deaths which is still the most in the province.

The Case Fatality Rate has decreased in KP and Peshawar as compared to yesterday, 8 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours in KP and 4 of them are from Peshawar which means Peshawar has contributed 50 percent of the deaths occurred in the province during the last 24 hours.