By: AswathyP
Areas in major cities in Pakistan underwent a ‘smart lockdown’ on Tuesday after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) issued a list of 20 cities identified as coronavirus hotspots across the country.
Parts of Islamabad and Peshawar have been sealed with major areas of Lahore set to go under lockdown from midnight tonight.
Moreover, areas identified in Swat include Bahrain, Matta, Babuzai, Kabal, Barikot, Khariri, Gwalerai and Odigram.
Other tehsils identified by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department include UC Qambar, Saeedoshareef, Breekot Gharbi, Quetta Sharki, Kozabandi and Madin.
More than 489 people have been infected in these areas, the provincial health department said.
In Peshawar, the four areas that have identified as coronavirus hotspots were sealed with both outgoing and incoming ways sealed. Lockdown has been imposed in Ahsrafia Colony, Channa Road, Danishabad and Hayatabad in Phase 1/Sector E-1.
Police have been deployed in the areas with markets except for grocery stores and medical stores.
Similarly, in Sindh’s Ghotki, four areas have been sealed and section 188 imposed after it was identified as one of the areas.
“A total of 20 cities across Pakistan have been identified as having likely increase in ratio/speed of infection which needs restrictive measures for containment,” a statement by the NCOC had said on Monday.
Pakistan has reported over 148,000 cases and more than 2,800 deaths so far from the novel coronavirus.
In Islamabad, authorities have already sealed G-9/2 and G-9/3 for having over 300 cases. While I-8, I-10, Ghauri Town, Bharakhau, G6 and G7 were being monitored, the NCOC had said.
The other cities identified by the NCOC are Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Swat, Hyderabad, Sukkar, Sialkot, Gujarat, Ghotki, Larkana, Khairpur, DG Khan, Malakand and Mardan.
The NCOC shared that the TTQ strategy is aimed at identifying disease spread, focused clusters/hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns and need-driven resource optimisation at all levels.
