Pakistan

15-day smart lockdown imposed in block 7 of Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal

Govt bans all sorts of public gatherings in specified area after 12 Omicron cases surface

Hafeez Tunio January 01, 2022

A deserted street in the commercial hub of Karachi during the Covid-induced lockdown of 2020. Photo: Express/FILE

KARACHI:

The local government imposed a 15-day micro-smart lockdown in Karachi's District East on Saturday after the emergence of at least 12 cases of Omicron variant in the area.

According to a notification issued by the deputy commissioner’s office, the lockdown was imposed in Gulshan-e-Iqbal's Block 7 area and other hotspots on the report of the district health officers.

"In exercise of powers conferred under Section 3 of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act 2014 (as amended in 2020), I, Taha Saleem, Deputy Commissioner District Karachi East hereby impose smart lockdown and micro-smart lockdown, which shall be enforced in the streets and houses of specified area respectively as given below, for a definite period of two weeks only," the notification read.

After the imposition of the smart lockdown, there will be a ban on all sorts of public gatherings in the area, the notification said, adding that the government will strictly enforce the implementation of the SOPs.

Read Omicron detected in 89 countries, spreading rapidly: WHO

"In order to reduce the transmission and spread of Covid-19, besides mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing interventions, it is also fundamental to ensure isolation, contact tracing and testing being the three pillars of TTT (TTQ) strategy of the government for the containment of Covid-19," the notification added.

According to the notification, the restrictions will remain in place till Jan 14 to avert a health crisis.

On Tuesday, the National Institute of Health confirmed 75 cases of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 across the country.

"Since [the] WHO [World Health Organisation] designated Omicron as a Variant of Concern on November 26, 2021, the Ministry of NHSRC [National Health Systems Resource Centre], NCOC, NIH [National Institute of Health] and the provincial health departments have remained vigilant to detect the variant in Pakistan," read an official statement.

"The first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was reported on December 13 in Karachi. As of December 27, 2021, a total of 75 Omicron cases have been confirmed – 33 in Karachi, 17 in Islamabad and 13 in Lahore," it had added.