Karachi, Lahore among 20 corona ‘hotspot’ cities

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday identified a total of 20 cities across the country as potential Covid-19 hotspots and clusters under the trace, track and quarantine (TTQ) strategy, which needed restrictive measures for containment of the pandemic.

The development came as the nationwide coronavirus cases surged past 144,000 with 5,248 new patients emerged during 24 hours, with total deaths hitting 2,729 after 97 fresh fatalities.

The NCOC undertook a comprehensive review of potential Covid-19 clusters and hotspots across the country, in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement for containing Covid-19 through smart lockdown strategy. An NCOC meeting chaired by Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, was told that the information was being shared with provinces.

It was told that based on TTQ strategy, Muzaffarabad city was locked with 200,000 population, two sectors of Islamabad were also locked with approximately 50,000 population and more than 1,200 other lockdowns were in place in different parts of the country.

In Islamabad, G-9/2 and G-9/3 had more than 300 cases and were sealed along with Karachi Company whereas the new hotspots in Islamabad which were being monitored and might be sealed included I-8, I-10, Ghauri Town, Bharakhau, G-6 and G-7 sectors.

Various cities which have registered increase in infection cases and have been identified by NCOC for necessary restrictive measures, include: Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranawala, Swat, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Sialkot, Gujrat, Ghotki, Larkana, Khairpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Malakand and Mardan. The meeting was informed in detail about operationalisation of additional oxygenated beds and vents including procurement of these critical healthcare equipment by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as announced by the Prime Minister.

A total of 2,150 additional oxygenated beds would be functional by the end of July to meet additional requirements. About 1,000 oxygenated beds would be functional by end June and another 1,150 by end of July. The meeting was told that during last 24 hours more than 10,557 violations of health guidelines/instructions were observed across the country.

According to the NCOC, more than 1,252 markets and shops, 12 industries and 1,148 transport vehicles were cautioned, fined, sensitised and sealed.

To ensure the implementation of the health guidelines and instructions and preventive measures including wearing of face mask in public as per WHO new guidelines on the subject, special teams were operating across the country to ensure that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were being implemented.

As per the details, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 589 violations were noted and around 16 shops and markets were sealed and 226 transport vehicles were fined. In Gilgit-Baltistan, around 128 violations were noted, whereas 28 markets and shops were sealed and 30 transport vehicles were fined.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 3878 violations were noticed and in consequence 222 shops and markets were sealed, 193 transport vehicles fined and 1157 individuals were also fined for violating the SOPs.

In Punjab, 4929 violations of safety guidelines were witnessed in different parts of the province and subsequently 801 shops and markets were closed, 12 industries sealed and 691 transport vehicles were fined.