The commissioner of Karachi has directed the people living in the coronavirus hotspots in the city to take 14-day leave from their offices as the authorities will not allow them to leave their areas during the lockdown.

Iftikhar Shallwani, while talking to media said that the people residing in the lockdown areas and are working in offices should take leave for a period of 14 days as the move is necessary to contain the pandemic.

Shallwani has issued a notification with details of the areas to be locked down to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Any movement in the restricted hotspot areas would be banned during the lockdown, said the notice.

Several areas of Karachi has gone into a lockdown began at 7pm on Thursday till July 2 as COVID-19 hotspots have emerged in these areas. Reportedly, as many as 40 UCs of Karachi are needed to follow the SOPs.

Karachi: List of areas to get locked down for two weeks for being coronavirus hotspots

A day prior, the deputy commissioners of three of Karachi’s districts had identified the hotspots.

All the union councils (UCs) in the West, East, and Korangi districts were recommended to be locked down.

More than 157,000 cases and 3,000 deaths have been reported due to the COVID-19 all over Pakistan, with close to 60,000 cases in both Sindh and Punjab.