Covid tally increases by 564 in capital

RDA seals 20 shops, seven restaurants; RTA impounds 170 public service vehicles

ISLAMABAD:

The federal capital continued to witness a surge in the number of coronavirus cases with 564 new patients on Thursday, a National Command Operation Centre spokesperson said.

He said so far 62,775 cases have been reported while 588 deaths have occurred in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

Meanwhile, the Rawalpindi District Administration (RDA) has launched a crackdown against those violating the precautionary standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of the virus. During the crackdown, fines worth over Rs100,000 were imposed while 20 business centres, seven restaurants, and a wedding hall were sealed.

According to Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anwarul Haq, 11 raids were carried out on inter-city transport in the city on Thursday. Fines of Rs3,000 were imposed on violators after inspecting 52 public places and parks and Rs5,000 while inspecting eight of the railway and bus stations was imposed, an official mentioned.

He added that 133 shopping malls, markets, and plazas were also inspected out of which 20 were sealed on violating the SOPs while a fine of Rs41,000 was imposed on the violators. Moreover, after inspecting 30 marriage halls, one was sealed and Rs20,000 was fined whereas seven restaurants were sealed out of 78 and a fine of Rs23,000 was imposed on the owners.

The DC said that there is a need to make people aware of their social duty as one person can be a danger to everyone and urged the public to ensure the implementation of SOPs.

Furthermore, the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Rawalpindi issued challan slips to 171 public service vehicles (PSVs) and impounded 170 of them over violation of SOPs issued by the Punjab government for transportation facilities.

According to the RTA Secretary Rashid Ali, the authority conducted raids and checked the implementation of SOPs at different routes while those found violating them were fined and the vehicles were impounded during March, adding that fines amounting to over Rs130,500 were imposed on them.

He said that RTA squads constituted to check the implementation of SOPs have accelerated conducting raids against violators while mobile squads were also performing duties at different public transport terminals as well as at various routes to facilitate the people.