120-bed quarantine facility set up in Pindi

At least 13 people in Rawalpindi, 10 in Islamabad recover from COVID-19

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: The district administration of Rawalpindi has established a 120-bed quarantine facility at Shahbaz Sharif Sports Complex located on Sixth Road.

The health department has taken over the operations at the facility and the workers have been assigned duties too. Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhammad Mehmood and Deputy Commissioner Anwaarul Haq visited the facility to examine the arrangements.

With the inclusion of 27 new patients during the past 24-hours, the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) infected patients in Rawalpindi surged to 112 on Saturday.

Meanwhile Some 13 patients were discharged after full recovery from different healthcare and isolation facilities including nine from the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and Kidney Transplant (RIUKT).

The outcome of some 181 blood samples confirmed the presence of the virus in as many as 85 people while only 25 were tested positive. Meanwhile, the officials await the results of some 71 people.

However, sources in the health department claimed that there are dozens of patients who were on the path of recovery.

Meanwhile, out of 102 confirmed patients of Covid-19 in Islamabad, 10 have fully recovered, said Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat on Saturday.

However, quoting epidemiologists he urged people to cooperate with the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) for one more month as the first battle against coronavirus could be won by containing the virus till May 4.

He said the extensive field surveys and persistent contact tracing helped restricting the virus in the federal capital. The teams of ICTA were working day and night to contain the virus, he said, adding the government had trusted only Islamabad to accept foreign flights due to effective measures.

He said the administration checked over 71,000 houses and tested 2,700 people.

Imposters caught

Rawalpindi police arrested four people who posed as Deputy Personal Assistants (DPAs) of the Prime Minister Imran Khan and roamed around the city with a police light fitted on their vehicle.

Regarding the incident, Rawat police officials said that personnel the police picket on Basali Chowk stopped a private car with a police light on it.

The four people inside it reprimanded the police for stopping them. One of the suspects, Khawar, got down from the vehicle and introduced himself as the Prime Minister’s DPA. He threatened the policemen that they all would get suspended by Sunday morning for their move.

Responding to their assertions, the police asked them to prove their identity and demanded them to produce their respective official cards. At this, the suspects tried to vindicate themselves by saying that all of them had forgotten to carry their cards with them.

Policemen deployed at the picket arrested Khawar, Jehanzaib Khan, Muhammad Owais, and Sahrjeel Muhammad and took them to Rawat police station.

Rawat SHO told The Express Tribune that case of impersonating a government official had been registgered against the four suspects.

Crackdown against schools

The district education department has decided to launch a drive from April 13 against private schools which were not following Punjab government orders to grant fee concessions for April and May.

The department officials said that all such educational institutions would be sealed and face the imposition of heavy fines.

The Assistant Education Officers (AEOs) and the police special branch have started preparing lists of all such institutions as well, officials told The Express Tribune.

Further, PTI MPA Abda Raja termed the concession as indispensable under current circumstances. She vowed strict action against all those who refused to abide by government orders.

Consequently, All Pakistan Private Schools Management (APPSM) has announced to grant 20 per cent relaxation in monthly fees of April and May to the students.

Traders demand restoration of business

A traders’ body of Rawalpindi has demanded the government to restore business activities in Rawalpindi from April 15.

In this regard, Anjuman Tajiran Saidpur Road President Raja Ghulam Asghar and Secretary Ishaq Abbasi contended that the labourers, as well as small traders, were bearing the brunt of the lockdown.

They added that small traders such as shopkeepers were worried about how they would pay their expenses such as salaries and utility bills. “How would they arrange three meals for their families?” the official asked.

The virus threat was in its place but the people have now started contracting diseases such as depression, they added and called for the gradual restoration of other businesses too to keep things running smoothly. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2020.