Smart and micro lockdowns to be imposed in Karachi today

To deal with rising cases of Covid-19, smart lockdown and micro lockdown will be imposed in Karachi from today (Saturday) onwards while only marriage halls without roofs will be allowed to hold wedding ceremonies.

This was decided in a meeting held on Friday with Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani in chair. The meeting was attended by deputy commissioners, district health officers, Health Secretary Kazim Jatoi and Additional Commissioner Karachi II Dr Waqas Roshan.

According to a statement issued by the Commissioner Office, smart lockdown will be imposed in four districts of the city while in the other two districts, micro lockdown will be imposed. The districts where smart lockdown will be imposed include West, Central, South and East districts, while in Korangi and Malir districts, micro lockdown will be imposed. All the deputy commissioners based on the data and advice of deputy heath commissioners will issue notifications in this regard.

The commissioner said the virus was rapidly spreading in the city and smart lockdown had to be implemented in areas where there were more cases. All deputy commissioners briefed Shallwani about the situation of Covid-19 in their districts and how SOPs were being implemented. It was decided in the meeting that in districts where the deputy commissioners had already identified hotspots with their deputy health officers, a notification of smart lockdown should be immediately issued and in those districts where the hotspot areas were yet to be identified, it should be done as soon as possible.

The commissioner stressed the need for strictly enforcing standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to control the spread of coronavirus in the city. He directed the deputy commissioners to make sure that SOPs were properly enforced in their jurisdictional areas. He also directed them to continue crackdown against shops, markets, restaurants, wedding halls, malls and supermarkets violating the social distancing SOP.

The commissioner also held a meeting with marriage halls association in his office. Karachi Marriage Hall, Lawn, Banquet Owners Association President Rana Raees assured the commissioner that the SOPs would be implemented at the wedding halls.

Shallwani told the association that marriage ceremonies would take place only in marriage halls without roofs and there should not be more than 300 guests. It was also decided in the meeting that buffet would not be allowed in wedding ceremonies.

Meanwhile, according to data shared by the Commissioner Office, 13 people were fined for not wearing masks in District South with Rs35,000 and as many were issued warnings. Fifteen people were also fined for not wearing masks in District Malir. In District South, 24 restaurants were found violating social distancing SOPs during inspection and issued warnings.

In District East, six restaurants were fined Rs480,000 and two others were sealed. In District West, one restaurant was sealed, while in District Central one restaurant was issued a warning and two sealed. In District Malir, three restaurants were issued warnings and in District Korangi, six restaurants were issued warnings, two were fined Rs 15,000 and three were sealed.