Lockdown in Punjab districts from today

LAHORE:Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SHD) Secretary Sarah Aslam on Tuesday announced lockdown in selected districts of Punjab as per the recommendations of NCOC and the Punjab government.

The secretary said new restrictions would come into effect from Aug 4 (today) and remain in place until August 31. In Punjab, the restrictions will be imposed in areas of Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan.

According to the secretary, Sunday shall be observed as a closed day for all business and commercial activities except for pharmacies, medical stores, health centres, vaccination centres, petrol pumps, Tandoors, bakeries, dairy shops, food takeaways, e-commerce, courier postal services, gas, water and electricity offices, cellular companies, auto workshops, oil depots and markets (vegetables, fruits, grains & livestock) will be allowed to work 24 hours, 7 days a week. All business centers will remain open until 8pm. Office attendance has been reduced to 50pc while gyms remain open only for vaccinated persons. Cinemas and shrines remain closed during the lockdown.

The Punjab government has banned indoor dining, however, outdoor dining has been allowed till 10pm. Indoor weddings will be banned from Aug 8 and only outdoor events with a capacity of 400 people will be allowed until 10pm. Only vaccinated people can come to the gym for exercise. All tourist destinations across the province are allowed to operate in accordance with SOPs. All recreation centres, amusement parks, swimming pools, contact sports (martial arts, Kabaddi and rugby), cultural festivals and gatherings will be completely closed, the secretary said. She said all public transport will be allowed to run with a capacity of 50pc except for freight cars, ambulances, and medical vehicles. There will be a complete ban on all types of refreshments during the trip. The train service will continue with 70pc of the total capacity, however, sectors of industry and agriculture will be exempted.

Meanwhile, the secretary reviewed the current situation of dengue in the province. She directed the department to intensify dengue prevention activities. She stressed special care for cleanliness. Hospitals’ drugs purchase data: Specialized Healthcare Secretary Muhammad Aamir Jan visited Jinnah Hospital here on Tuesday.

Talking to the media, Aamir Jan said the HVAC system and other machinery would become functional in the next two months for providing better healthcare to patients. He asked the medical superintendents to ensure improvement in conditions of hospitals, management and operational matters. No mafia in purchase of medicines, parking, canteens and affairs of the hospitals would be allowed and all the civil cases pending in courts would actively be pursued for setting aside the stay orders, Aamir Jan said and added the department would notify its team who would collect data of purchase of medicines of last three years from teaching hospitals within 10 days so as to unearth any irregularity or embezzlement in the process after its monitoring and evaluation. This report would be shared with the media, he added. He held out assurance that vacancies of professors, associate professors, senior registrars and nursing staff would soon be filled in to overcome shortage of manpower in hospitals in a month. He said Jinnah Hospital is incurring millions of rupees on electricity charges but it would be energised with solar power through the energy department in a bid to save millions of rupees.