KARACHI: Deputy Commissioner for Karachi’s west district has announced to impose smart lockdown in the district starting from tomorrow to Dec 18 amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
According to a notification issued by the deputy commissioner for west district Muhammad Ali Shah, all coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be strictly enforced during the smart lockdown in the district.
The smart lockdown would be imposed in 13 areas of the city’s western districts where a rising number of COVID-19 patients were reported.
Baldia Town, Gadap, Keamari, Islamnagar, Saeedabad, Mohajir Camp, Maymarabad, Yousuf Goth, Data Nagar, Hanifabad, Pak Colony, Metroville, Bawani Chali, and Frontier Colony will undergo lockdown starting from tomorrow.
In the notification, the commissioner said all businesses will remain closed, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, as well as shops selling staples and items of day-to-day use.
The lockdown has been approved in light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, he added. Meanwhile, the coronavirus has killed 55 more people in Pakistan and brought the total number of deaths to 8,260.
According to the National Command and Operations Center, another 3,262 cases of coronavirus have been reported and the total number of affected people has reached 410,072. In Pakistan, 350,305 coronavirus patients have recovered and 51,507 are undergoing treatment.
The highest number of deaths due to coronavirus is in Punjab where 3,115 people have lost their lives. 2,983 people have lost their lives in Sindh, 1,389 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 332 in Islamabad, 98 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 169 in Balochistan, and 174 in Azad Kashmir.
The number of coronavirus cases in Islamabad is 31,639, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 48,264, Sindh 179,240, Punjab 121,753, Balochistan 17,333, Azad Kashmir 7,151 and Gilgit-Baltistan 4,692.
Nationwide, the rate of positive cases of coronavirus was 8.16 percent. Karachi coronavirus ranks first in the rate of positive cases with 20.12 percent.
According to the NCOC, the rate of positive cases in Hyderabad was 18.43 percent. Abbottabad has 14.53 percent, Azad Kashmir 11.09 percent, Balochistan 12.5 percent, Gilgit-Baltistan 4.7 percent, Islamabad 6.6 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 5.6 percent, and Sindh 14.1 percent.
