SWABI: The district administration sealed a restaurant in Swabi after its eight employees tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner Shahid Mehmood told journalists that it was a surprise for the officials of district administration and health department because the number of coronavirus patients was declining across the country.

He said that eight positive cases at a hotel that was visited a large number of people daily created a perturbed scenario.

Dr Kaleemullah, the district health officer, when contacted, said that they were already having about 26 coronavirus cases in the district. With the eight new confirmed patients, the total number of the active cases reached 34, he added.

Islahuddin, assistant commissioner, sealed the Samar Gul Hotel without any delay and the administration started monitoring of hotels in the district.

The owners of the restaurants have been directed to observe the standard operating procedures.

The DHO said that the big problem was that people started believing that the spreading period of the virus was over.

He said that people stopped following SOPs which caused great damage. He said that registration of new cases proved that the health officials were right.

“The officials admitted that the hotel staff did not follow SOPs,” said an official of health department.

Officials said that smart lockdown was imposed in the areas where the houses of the eight patients were situated. They added that police were patrolling the areas.

They said that the health officials started collecting samples for test of the virus.

Bacha Khan Hospital Complex Shahmansoor has the testing facility. Samples of the traders where the hotel situated would also be collected by health staff for tests.

The eight employees of the hotel have been admitted to the coronavirus ward of Chota Lahor tehsil headquarters hospital.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2020