RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government has formed seven joint teams of assistant commissioners and local police to check violations of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the sealed hotspots, Commissioner Rawalpindi retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn.

He said the government wanted to control the virus but it was not possible without the citizens adopting safety measures.

On Friday, 11 shops were sealed in different parts of Rawalpindi and their owners were fined Rs114,000 on Friday for violating the Covid-19 SOPs.

He said the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company was disinfecting the hotspots and markets and public places on a daily basis. He said the number of patients was increasing.

“We would consider utilising the tehsil headquarters hospitals for the treatment of the patients in coming days.”

DC issues another order making masks mandatory for citizens in Islamabad

Meanwhile, 170 people tested positive on Friday and four patients died while 172 confirmed patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery.

A 50-year-old resident of Rawalpindi city who was brought to Rawalpindi Institute of Urology on June 19 died on Friday afternoon. A woman, aged 59, from Ali Town also died at RIU.

A 66-year-old man from Mohallah Saidpur was brought to the RIU on June 19 where he died.

A 10-year-old boy from Dhoke Kashmirian was admitted to the RIU on Friday where he also died.

A senior official from the District Health Authority told Dawn that these patients were isolated in their houses but after their condition deteriorated they were shifted to the hospital.

With the arrival of 170 more patients, the tally of confirmed patients increased to 4,985 in the district.

Wearing face mask made mandatory

The capital administration here on Friday made wearing face masks at public places in Islamabad mandatory for two months, sources told Dawn.

An order issued from the office of the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat said that in compliance with the decisions taken by the government and as per the advice by health experts to limit the spread of Covid-19 it becomes essential that the general public must wear face masks while visiting public places in Islamabad.

The order shall come into force with immediate effect and shall remain in force for a period of two months, it added.

Earlier, this month the capital administration had made a similar announcement and started imposing fines on violators, and collected Rs123,300, till June 16, officials of the administration said.

Moreover, a meeting was held between the officials of the capital administration and representatives of the leading pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies, oxygen suppliers, DRAP to ensure supply of oxygen, medical equipment and medicines, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in capital reached to 9,941, after 304 more tested positive, they added.

Attock

As many as 15 new cases were reported in the district of Attock during the last 24 hours, raising the tally to 350. According to district focal person for Covid-19 Dr Asif Arbab Niazi two doctors and a female health worker serving at rural health centre in Ghorghusti in teshil Hazro also tested positive.

He said eight of the new cases belonged to the Attock city, four to Hazro, two to Hassanabdal and one to Fatehjang. Niazi said the number of suspected cases also increased to 3131 while screening of 6712 people was carried out so far.

Taxila

Another patient died of the novel coronavirus in Taxila on Friday, health authorities confirmed. The death toll due to the virus in Taxila reached 17.

According to health authorities, the 45-year-old woman from Saadat Colony in Wah was under treatment at Pims where she died.— Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2020