Areas which report virus cases to be sealed off
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ISLAMABAD: The federal and provincial governments decided to seal the areas where new cases of coronavirus are reported, as the addition of over 100 cases from across the country on Thursday took the total number of confirmed patients of Covid-19 to 1,190.
After detection of some new cases, Bhara Kahu, Chak Shahzad and Ramsha Colony in Islamabad; some parts of Sadiqabad, a part of Dhoke Kashmirian and B Block of Satellite Town in Rawalpindi; and Mohrah Akkrah near Sohawa and Manga village in Charsadda have been sealed.
Vehicles, except those involved in freight transportation, have been banned on highways and motorways.
As many as 30,000 boxes of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are being prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) which will be given to health professionals treating Covid-19 patients.
Moreover, the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) has attained the capability to produce 25,000 face masks and 10,000 litres of hand sanitiser on a daily basis.
Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said that it was decided to ensure availability of PPEs to every health professional performing coronavirus-related duties.
NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Mohammad Afzal said orders had been placed to purchase kits for one million tests for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, district authorities in Jhelum have announced a lockdown in Mohrah Akkrah near Sohawa tehsil headquarters after the death of a woman who recently returned from abroad. A police official said that after the burial of the woman, her husband who has also tested positive for Covid-19, had been admitted to hospital.
The adviser to the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister, Shams Mir, said that with seven more coronavirus cases the number of Covid-19 patients reached 91.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) reported its second Covid-19 patient on Thursday after an expatriate from the United Kingdom tested positive for the virus.
The 37-year-old man had landed at the Islamabad airport on March 17 from where he had driven straight to his native Bangrilla village on the outskirts of Mirpur. His neighbours quoted him as saying that he had not been screened at the airport.
Hamid Asghar from Gujar Khan, Jamil Nagri from Gilgit-Baltistan and Tariq Naqash from Muzaffarabad also contributed to this report.
Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2020
