After much debate and too much crucial time passing without lockdown, the government has FINALLY made the decision to reimpose lockdown in select areas.
According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), 20 cities across Pakistan have been identified as Coronavirus hotspots and will be privy to lockdowns and a strategy labelled ‘Testing,Tracing and Quarantining’ (TTQ), which is exactly as it sounds. The amount of testing taking place will be accelerated, contacts of confirmed cases will be rapidly traced and then effectively quarantined and isolated to stop further spread.
The following 20 cities have been recognised as hotspots for COVID-19 in Pakistan:
- Karachi
- Lahore
- Quetta
- Peshawar
- Rawalpindi
- Islamabad
- Faisalabad
- Multan
- Gujranawala
- Swat
- Hyderabad
- Sukkur
- Sialkot
- Gujarat
- Ghotki
- Larkana
- Khairpur
- Dera Ghazi Khan
- Malakand
- Mardan
Meanwhile Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid announced that certain areas in Lahore which have been recognised as Coronavirus hotspots will be put under lockdown as 300 plus cases have been recorded in these areas:
- Shahdra
- Shad Bagh
- Nishtar Ground
- Lahore Cantt (DHA Phase 1-5 and 8, Askari 9-10)
- Allama Iqbal Town
- Walled City
- Mozang
- Harbanspura
- Gulberg
“Food stores and pharmacies will remain open in these areas,” clarified the minister, adding that the areas will undergo a complete lockdown for at least two weeks. She added that these areas will be reopened after t the situation is assessed.
In Punjab, Lahore is the worst affected province and has reported over 27,000 cases and is the second worst affected city after Karachi.