Severe lockdown to limit spread of coronavirus announced in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The administration of the federal capital on Wednesday enforced severe steps to contain the spread of the coronavirus after raising the number of positive cases in Islamabad. 

The District Magistrate of Islamabad issued the closure of all markets, shopping malls, restaurants, and private offices in the region.

“There shall be a complete ban on intra-city, inter-district, and inter-province movement of people by public transport”.

اسلام آباد میں نقل و حرکت، دفاتر ، ہسپتالوں، پبلک ٹرانسپورٹ اور کاروبار پر مزید پابندیاں عائد کر دی گئیں ہیں۔ آرڈر نافذ کر دئے گئے ہیں pic.twitter.com/g0TFrYCzQd

— Office of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) March 24, 2020

The notification further stated soup kitchens and shelters for the poor shall remain open in the city. The authorities will also set up a ration center for the needy and deprived people, it said. 

The notification said essential services including hospitals, utilities, banks and grocery stores are allowed to open. The metro bus service will be open on select days and on specific times during the day only, but citizens have been instructed to sit at a distance from one another.

READ MORE: Coronavirus cases in Pakistan climb to 1,000

The administration imposed a complete ban on gatherings of all kinds for social, religious, whether they be public or private.

Pakistan Army has been deployed in all the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan to assist the civil administration in the ongoing situation of the outbreak.

READ MORE: CS Suleman Khan orders free movement of goods transport in Punjab