In Rawalpindi, govt employees called in for emergency duties

Cadre from grade one to 14 will serve in quarantine centres

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi administration has called in employees of over 22 various government departments to serve in different quarantine centres as part of the coronavirus emergency duty.

According to a circular, all provincial government employees of grade one to 14 would perform assigned duties at quarantine centres in Rawalpindi.

The circular directed heads of all institutions under the district administration to ensure the attendance of all employees up to basic pay scale (BPS) 14 on April 20.

The institutional heads were also directed to submit lists of all employees serving in the respective cadres to the deputy commissioner (DC) by April 19.

Following this, the district administration would start deploying employees on duties in different quarantine centres in Rawalpindi from April 20.

The notification warned of strict action against all such those who would remain absent from their duties from the given date.

Meanwhile, sources said that many government employees have expressed concern over being exposed to the pandemic without their consent. “We have not been asked to volunteer, but ordered to work at quarantine centres, exposing ourselves to coronavirus,” a disgruntled government employee said. Around 1,285 Covid-19 suspects have so far been brought to the quarantine facilities of the district, out of which 206 cases were tested positive who were provided the required treatment and 36 discharged after recovery.

According to daily situation report issued by Directorate of Public Relations(DPR) Punjab on Saturday, 1,285 COVID-19 suspected have so far been brought to the 26 quarantine facilities of the district, out of which 403 were brought to district hospitals among them 644 were contacts of suspected patients.

DPR said that 812 suspected coronavirus people have been quarantined as a precautionary measure including 781 were quarantined at homes,13 confirmed case in isolation while 18 were quarantined at various facilities of the district. They were under regular observation and the rapid response team of the Health Department were compiling their daily record, the DPR said.

"Presently 164 positive cases were under treatment, six were died in Rawalpindi while 36 confirmed COVID-19 were discharged after recovery," DPR added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2020.