Two areas of Ghauri Town to be sealed

Officials claim number of Covid-19 infections falling

RAWALPINDI: The district administration of the federal capital on Thursday decided to seal two areas of Ghauri Town under its ‘smart lockdown’ strategy to prevent the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) from spreading.

Meanwhile, health officials claimed that smart lockdowns have helped lower the number of new cases emerging in the city.

A notification, issued on Thursday by Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hamza Shafqaat, said that Phase IV-A and V-A of Ghauri Town will be sealed off from 7pm on June 26 by the relevant assistant commissioner (AC).

Per its strategy, shops selling essential items will remain in both areas. Personnel of the Islamabad police, paramilitary Rangers, and the army will cordon off all entry and exit points of these areas.

The two areas of Ghauri Town are in addition to some 10 neighbourhoods of the federal capital which are currently under the smart lockdown.Meanwhile, Shafqaat on Thursday claimed that the smart lockdown strategy has started yielding fruitful results with a 50 per cent drop in new Covid-19 cases from the sealed areas in recent days.

Moreover, data from the National Institute of Health showed that from a high of 771 cases reported across Islamabad on June 13, just 227 new cases were reported on June 24. Moreover, data for the past three days shows that the number of new cases has consistently fallen from 307 on June 22 to 264 on June 23 and 227 on June 24.

Meanwhile, the pandemic virus continues to spread rapidly in Rawalpindi with another 130 Covid-19 cases confirmed on Thursday, taking the tally to 5,714 with 281 associated deaths.

However, some 2,594 Covid-19 patients have recovered, or almost half of all cases.

A report issued by the district administration on Thursday said that Rawal Town is the worst-hit area.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2020.