LAHORE: The capital city police on Sunday registered 44 cases against people for not wearing masks in various parts of the city.

The cases were registered for violation of section 6 and 7 of the Punjab Infectious Diseases Act 2020. The Act was passed by the Punjab Assembly during the first wave of the pandemic but is being implemented for the first time.

Police also registered 83 cases against the owners of different shops over violations of coronavirus standard operating procedure (SOPs) and not following the timings.

A city police spokesperson said most of the cases were registered for not wearing masks in public places in various areas of the city including 33 cases in city division, three each in Iqbal Town, Civil Lines and Model Town and two in Cantonment.

Capital City Police Officer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said all the precautions and guidelines would be implemented for the sake of protection and safety of the citizens in the wake of severe threats due to third wave of coronavirus pandemic.

He said joint teams of police, district administration and health department were constituted to monitor the implementation and enforcement status regarding Covid-19 SOPs.

He said strict and indiscriminate action was being taken against the law breakers including those not wearing masks and violating the timings schedule.

He said special pickets would be set up at different points of the city to check the implementation process of directions of wearing masks by citizens.

The CCPO appealed to the citizens to cooperate with police and other departments to save their lives in this critical situation.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2021