Hotels in Naran, Kaghan sealed as staff tests positive for COVID-19

MANSEHRA: The district administration today (Sunday) has sealed all hotels in tourist hotspots Shogran, Naran and Kaghan after several workers were tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

According to media reports, the district health department had reported 47 Covid-19 cases at private hotels located in these spots. In this regard, the district administration decided to close down all hotels to contain the outbreak of the deadly virus.

Talking to local newspaper, Mansehra Additional Deputy Commissioner Maqbool Hussain informed that almost 48 hotels, including 22 main businesses and their respective branches, had been sealed at all three tourist spots and the infected patients had been quarantined.

“The local health department had made arrangements for the patients to be quarantined at the hotels. Health officials are tracing and testing those who had come into contact with the patients,” he added. However, the Additional Deputy Commissioner did not specify for how long the hotels would remain closed.

A day earlier, Kaghan Development Authority sealed three hotels and two restaurants in Naran following the employees tested positive for coronavirus.

In this regard, the Kaghan Authority wrote a letter to the Mansehra deputy commissioner recommending imposing a ‘smart lockdown’ at five hotels and restaurants in Naran.

The KDA director-general said that the hotels and restaurants had reopened their businesses, despite being sealed, which may lead to the spread of the virus.