Karachi: Smart and Micro lockdowns to be imposed in all districts amid surge in COVID-19 cases

Amidst the rise in cases of COVID-19, smart and micro lockdowns will be imposed in all districts of Karachi by today or tomorrow, Administrator Iftikhar Shallwani said on Friday.

“Micro lockdowns will be imposed in districts Malir and Korangi,” said administrator Karachi adding that “all deputy commissioners should consult their respective health officers [on the lockdowns]. The notification announcing the lockdown should be released by today or tomorrow”.

The decision of the smart and micro lockdowns has been taken during a meeting chaired by administrator Shallwani. The meeting was attended by deputy commissioners and the district health officers. Secretary health Kazim Jatoi also attended the meeting.

The district south, east, central, and west of the metropolis will release notifications of the imposition of smart lockdowns by tomorrow (Saturday), said Shallwani.

Note that during the smart lockdowns, only four persons will be allowed to gather at one place while wearing face masks will be compulsory for all.

In the lockdown neighbourhoods, only one person will be permitted to leave his/her house and will have to explain the reason for going out to law enforcement workforces.

People will not be permitted to hold events or social gatherings in areas where the smart lockdowns will be imposed.

The areas will be sealed on directives of the district health officers in the districts of Malir and Korangi, the administrator said.

Meanwhile, the special assistant to the Sindh chief minister and focal person of the Coronavirus Monitoring Committee (District South), Waqar Mehdi, has issued directions for strict enforcement of SOPs because of a surge in Covid-19 cases in Karachi’s South district.

“Over the past one day, there have been 210 positive cases in South district, which is alarming,” he was quoted as saying at a meeting by a statement.

He has directed the officials to further improve the drive-through Covid-19 testing facility in Clifton and directed the SSP South to make security arrangements at the testing point due to the increasing number of citizens visiting to get tested.

During the last 24 hours, 1,276 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Sindh, the highest daily jump in coronavirus infections since July 12, when the province reported 1,713 cases.

According to the data of NCOC, a total of 368,665 cases emerged in the country so far.

During the last 24 hours, 36 new deaths were recorded bringing the death toll to 7,561. While a total of 327,542 people have recovered from the highly contagious diseases so far.