KOHAT: A joint flag march was conducted by the police, the army and the civil administration on major roads here to strictly enforce the lockdown on Wednesday.

Kohat division commissioner Syed Abdul Jabbar, regional police officer Tayyab Hafeez Cheema, deputy commissioner Abdur Rehman, Army’s Brig Shehzad, district police officer Mansoor Aman and other officials of the civil administration, police and the army led the march.

The flag march was conducted in the cantonment, the city, on the Peshawar and Bannu bypass roads and, Rawalpindi, Hangu and Bannu roads.

The people who were found outside their homes were requested to go inside and the opened shops were closed.

The officials asked the people to adopt all safety measures to prevent spread of coronavirus.

They also inspected the quarantine centres at Gumbat, Lachi and the KDA Teaching Hospital to check the arrangements and facilities made for the coronavirus patients.

FOOD FOR THE POOR: The volunteers of the Ittefaq Welfare Organisation have started collecting the data of daily wagers in Bangash belt to provide them food during the lockdown.

The organisation’s chairman Esar Ali Bangash said the survey had been launched from Chakar Kot Bala, which would be expanded with the passage of time to other villages.

The volunteers registered the names of the poor people so food could be provided to them.

SIX TEST NEGATIVE: The six out of the nine suspected patients have tested negative for coronavirus, whereas the reports of the remaining are awaited from the NIH Islamabad.

A statement issued here said so far no positive case of coronavirus had been reported from across the district.

WORLD TB DAY: District health officer Dr Musharraf has said the stigma which carries the TB disease in the society is a major cause of its spread on a large scale.

Speaking at a press conference in connection with the World TB Day on Wednesday, he said the life-taking disease could be treated by timely diagnosis.

He stressed the need of raising awareness in the society to control its spread.

He said the disease killed 45,000 patients alone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa yearly.

Dr Musharraf said there were 25 doctors, as many centres and five laboratories functioning in the district to control the disease.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2020