Ag Agencies
KARACHI: The authorities on Wednesday sealed several major markets of Karachi over shopkeepers’ failure to adhere to coronavirus safety protocols as the country saw its single largest increase of confirmed Covid-19 cases — 2,255 in a 24-hour period.
The alarming development came days after the federal government announced an ease in restrictions beginning May 9, prompting traders to rush to open stores early this week amid a surge in nationwide coronavirus cases. The total tally now exceeds 34,000 cases and 761 deaths at the time of this report.
Videos from across the country shared on social media depict huge crowds of shoppers — many without masks, and all completely ignoring social distancing requirements —as they rushed to markets ahead of Eid holidays.
Following a surprise check by district administration authorities in various localities of Karachi, major shopping markets were sealed off over violation of standard operation procedures (SOPs). The traders protested heavily against the shutting down of shops and raised slogans against the district administration.
Geo News quoted Assistant Commissioner Asma Batool as saying the shopkeepers were neither wearing masks or gloves, nor using sanitisers.
Following the closure of markets, All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Chairman Atiq Mir, in a conversation with Geo News, said the traders were responsible for following the SOPs set by the government. “We had promised the authorities that the guidelines will be implemented but it did not happen. They are to be blamed themselves.”
Meanwhile, the Sindh government introduced an ordinance under which those found in violation of SOPs and other coronavirus lockdown restrictions will be slapped with a fine of Rs1 million. The Covid-19 Emergency Relief Ordinance, 2020, came into effect after Governor Imran Ismail -- who earlier rejected the proposal -- ratified it.
According to the ordinance, which was approved by the provincial cabinet on April 27, violation of any act mentioned in the ordinance will result in a fine. Prior to this, the fine for violating the Infectious Diseases Act was Rs 3,000.
Failure to stem the spread of the pandemic would also be dealt with under the same ordinance, it read. The text of the ordinance states that the relevant officer will be required to state the reasons for imposing the fine, while there will be a separate fine for repeated violations.
This comes as the spread of the infection through local transmission showed a dangerous upward trajectory in a recent report published by the World Health Organisation Pakistan chapter. The report presented a dismal picture in terms of local transmission cases in Pakistan, province by province, on a weekly basis.
The report showed that Balochistan had the highest rate of local transmission at 93 per cent, and only 7 per cent were imported cases. At second was Sindh, where 92 per cent were local transmissions and 8 per cent imported cases.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 84 per cent were instances of the virus being locally passed on while 16 per cent cases were foreign. In the worst-hit Punjab, 15 per cent were foreign cases while 85 per cent of the reported cases had emerged through local transmission.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, 37 per cent were imported cases while 63 per cent were of local transmission. Meanwhile, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 17 per cent were foreign cases while 83 per cent were passed on locally.
Meanwhile, during a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday, Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the lockdown had been relieved but the risk of the contagion was still present which the people should realise and must take all precautions while going outside.
The NCOC in its significant meeting discussed the progress of post May 9, situation at the provincial level.
