Traders in Punjab face penalties for opening shops

All commercial areas and main markets remain closed in the provincial capital

LAHORE:

Punjab traders faced penalties as they violated smart lockdown orders by opening their shops on Sunday.

City police and local administration imposed fines and sealed dozens of shops and banquet halls over violation of coronavirus safety standard operating procedures (SOPs) and smart lockdown orders.

All commercial areas and markets remained closed except grocery store, pharmacies and small neighbourhood shops in the provincial capital.

According to a spokesperson for Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SD), the coronavirus pandemic claimed 30 more lives in the province. As many as 2,090 virus cases emerged in Punjab over the past 24 hours while the total number of cases exceeded 197,170.

Data shows that the highest number of virus cases, a total of 1,236 patients, were reported in Lahore followed by 220 in Rawalpindi, 81 in Faisalabad, 67 in Sialkot, 63 in Gujrat, 50 in Gujranwala, 44 in Sargodha, 37 in Multan, 35 in Jhelum, 31 in Bahawalpur and 26 each in Chiniot.

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Moreover, 25 Covid-19 cases were reported in Rahim Yar Khan, 22 in Khushab, 20 in Sheikhupura, 18 in Mandi Bahuddin, 17 in Okara, 15 in Toba Tek Singh, 13 in Kasur, eight in Sahiwal, seven each in Vehari and Dera Ghazi Khan, five each in Nankana Sahib and Khanewal, four in Pakpattan, three in Hafizabad, two each in Narowal and Bahawalnagar and one virus case in Mianwali.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar has said that precautionary measures were essential to prevent coronavirus. “The increase in the coronavirus positivity ratio is alarming. The public must wear masks.“

Those who were flouting coronavirus SOPs were also becoming a threat to others who had not contracted the virus, he added.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2021.