KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to impose lockdown in coronavirus hotspots areas of Karachi from Thursday evening.
Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said a decision has been made to lock down the sensitive areas by 7 PM on Thursday for two weeks.
The deputy commissioner has submitted a report recommending the coronavirus hotspots which will be completely locked down and any movement within the area will be banned.
A day earlier, the deputy commissioners of three districts had identified the hotspots. All 43 union councils (UCs) in the West, East, and Korangi districts were recommended to be locked down.
Earlier this week, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had issued a list of 20 cities identified as coronavirus hotspots across Pakistan, recommending certain areas of major cities to impose a ‘smart lockdown’ as part of the new strategy.
The other cities identified were Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Swat, Hyderabad, Sukkar, Sialkot, Gujarat, Ghotki, Larkana, Khairpur, DG Khan, Malakand, and Mardan.
The NCOC noted that the test, trace and quarantine (TTQ) strategy was aimed at identifying disease spread, focused clusters/hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns and need-driven resource optimisation at all levels.
SOPs for areas under lockdown
- Anyone entering or exiting the lockdown area shall wear a mask without any exception
- Movement of people residing in areas under lockdown shall be strictly restricted
- Only grocery shops/convenience stores and pharmacies shall be allowed to remain open in these areas during specific timings as specified in the Home Department’s order dated June 01, 2020
- All other business activities shall strictly remain closed without any exceptions
- All kinds of industrial units falling in these areas shall remain closed
- No home delivery/take away of any sort will be allowed from restaurants/ fast food joints
- Only one person of household shall be allowed outside for buying food items and medicines by displaying original CNIC to the law enforcement agencies
- Only one attendant, where extremely necessary, shall be allowed with a person in need of medical care
- No private/family get-together will be allowed in private homes
- No joy riding shall be allowed. Residents coming out of their houses should have a valid reason to do so
- Pillion riding shall be strictly banned in these areas
- All public transport (buses, taxis, rickshaws, Uber, Careem, Swvl, Airlift) is banned to ply on the roads in these areas
- Government will make every effort to provide ration to the needy people residing in these areas through philanthropic organizations and by employing its own resources
- Government will make every effort to provide mobile dispensaries and mobile utility stores in these areas
- The lockdown shall be operational from 7pm on June 18, 2020. It will remain effective till July 7, 2020
