RAWALPINDI: Three more hotspots of Covid-19 were identified in the garrison city which will go under lockdown from Monday night.

The district administration has sought permission from the Punjab government to seal these areas for a week.

On the other hand, eight other localities, including Narankari Bazaar and Bara Market, are going to be de-sealed.

The new hotspots are Dhoke Khabba, Gulistan Colony and Range Road Lane No 4 and PIA Colony.

As many as 52 positive cases have been reported from the areas — 23 from Dhoke Khabba, 16 from Gulistan Colony and 13 from Range Road, Lane No 4.

Positive cases were reported in Dhoke Khabba, Gulistan Colony, Range Road Lane No 4, official says

The movement of 84,470 people residing in these areas will be restricted.

“We have identified the three localities for a lockdown from July 6 to July 13 as the number of patients in these areas increased. Permission has been sought from the government which is likely to come on Monday evening after which we will seal these areas at midnight,” Deputy Commissioner retired Capt Anwarul Haq told Dawn.

He said the administration reopened Gulzar-i-Quaid, Khyaban-i-Sir Syed, Dhoke Ali Akbar, Kotha Kalan, Morgah and Takhatpari while Narankari Bazaar and Bara Market would be reopened on Monday.

He said the number of patients in the city had decreased after the smart lockdown policy.

The number of critical patients has also reduced in intensive care units of hospitals, he added.

Meanwhile, 16 people tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, taking the tally to 5,923. Moreover, 244 people have died and 4,196 others recovered.

At present, 1,483 confirmed patients are under treatment, including 670 in hospitals.

Apart from this, 219 suspected patients were brought to three hospitals and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Benazir Bhutto Hospital laboratory but the results are awaited.

Shops sealed

As many as 22 shops were sealed by the district administration after they were found open despite a lockdown on Sunday. The owners were imposed a fine of Rs32,000.

Rawalpindi Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Mehar Ghulam Abbas inspected bus terminals and public transport vehicles and found violations.

The RTA teams impounded 15 vehicles, issued challans to nine vehicle owners and imposed Rs21,000 fines on them.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood said at present 116 patients were admitted to the high dependency units of four hospitals in Rawalpindi.

He said 15 of the patients were on ventilators, 32 on oxygen and 32 of them were stable. In mid June, he added, the number of critical patients was more than 250.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2020