Bhara Kahu UC sealed over outbreak fears

Area reopened late in evening after suspected patients quarantined

ISLAMABAD: The Kot Hathial Union Council (UC) in the Bhara Kahu locality of the federal capital was sealed by the district administration and police on Monday with a “complete ban” imposed on the movement of residents of the area.

Army troops along with police and Rangers manned all routes leading to and from the area.

The move came after a group of suspected novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients from the area tested positive for the virus and there were fears that the area could become a cluster for the disease.

The lockdown of Kot Hathial was lifted late on Monday evening after police and administration completed a search for all those who had close contact with the positive coronavirus patients. These people were shifted to a quarantine facility in the federal capital for observation and tests.

On Saturday, the police had shifted at least 11 members of the Tableeghi Jamaat, who were staying at a local mosque in the area, to the quarantine facility at Haji Camp for testing after locals reported that they were displaying symptoms of the virus. Their test results came back positive on Monday.

“We are imposing a complete lockdown on Kot Hathyal area,” said an official of the Islamabad Police.

Another police officer said that according to locals, these patients had met dozens of people in the area before they were moved to isolation wards.

“A foreigner was also part of this group and had tested positive as well,” he said. A police spokesperson said that the foreigner, who hails from Kyrgyzstan, had first tested positive after which all of his fellow Tableeghi Jamaat members were quarantined.

A notification issued by the district administration said that there will a complete ban on the movement of people and gathering until further orders in Kot Hathyal, Bhara Kahu.

“The entire area has been turned into quarantine and the people of the area will be tested,” the police official said, explaining that while they had initially sealed the mosque with assistance from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to prevent the possible spread of the infection, they were now locking down the entire area after all the suspected patients tested positive.

Further, the official said that they are tracing contact by preparing a list of all the people who had interacted with the Tableeghi Jamaat members during their preaching activity.

People flout Section 144

Even though cases of COVID-19 in the federal capital jumped to 15 in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) locals seemed divided about following orders from the district administration for a lockdown, imposed under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Only stores selling essential food and medicinal items were exempted under the ban.

Despite the directions, many stores remained open in some urban and many rural localities on Monday.

Shops were open in the densely populated urban localities of Sectors G-6, G7, G-10, I-10 and I-9, with barbers and hairdressers, mobile phone shops and some hardware stores remained open.

While grocery stores are exempt from the lockdown order, the directive that no more than seven people should remain in a shop at a time was largely ignored with a rush of people observed thronging greengrocers and bread ovens (tandoors).

Police patrols kept announcing from loudspeakers, advising the public to stay at home and maintain social distance, but such advice fell on deaf ears.

Even though playing sports in the many grounds of the federal capital have been banned, many youngsters could still be seen gathering in the ground located adjacent to Sector G-7 Pakki Stop playing various sports to kill time, while the elderly spent their evening playing board games.

The lockdown was more religiously followed in the more upscale areas of the capital. Jinnah Super and bazaars in different sectors including F-8, F-10, F-11, and I-8 were deserted.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2020.