Central, South districts placed on micro-lockdown

After District West’s deputy commissioner placed two areas of a union council in the Manghopir neighbourhood on a mini-lockdown on Wednesday, two more districts of Karachi, namely the Central and South districts, have followed suit.

These are the first such orders for any part of the city since the Government of Sindh had lifted the initial lockdown, which had been ordered as early as March.

District Central’s deputy commissioner on Thursday ordered a micro-lockdown in his jurisdiction to control the transmission of the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, in different areas of the district. The order to control the movement of people will remain in effect until October 14.

District Central has 45 active cases right now. Four of them have been reported in North Karachi’s Sector 11-B, Sector 5C-1 and Sector 11-A, where the micro-lockdown has been imposed.

Twenty cases have been reported in North Nazimabad, where different houses, streets and blocks have been locked down. Liaquatabad and Gulberg have reported nine and 12 cases respectively. The micro-lockdown has been ordered on the recommendation of the Central district health officer in view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the areas mentioned above.

District South

Block-A of the Creek Vista Apartments in DHA Phase-VIII, which is located in District South’s Civil Lines subdivision and has seven active cases among a population of 702, has been sealed.

Saddar Town’s Askari-III neighbourhood, which also has seven active cases among a population of 487, has been sealed as well. The lockdown in these areas will remain in effect until the number of active cases is brought down to zero.

Directions

The assistant commissioners of the sub-divisions concerned have been directed to devise implementation plans and enforce the lockdown, penalise the violators and make decisions in coordination with the relevant deputy superintendent of police and station house officers to resolve the day-to-day issues.

The assistant commissioners have also been directed to provide logistic support to implement the lockdown in close coordination with the Sindh Health Department and the law enforcement agencies. The assistant commissioners have been told to take the chairmen of the union councils, members of the peace committees and renowned philanthropists of the areas concerned on board.

SOPs

According to the lockdown order, various standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be enforced. Anyone entering or exiting any of the affected areas will wear a mask. The movement of people residing in such areas will be strictly restricted.

Only grocers, convenience stores and pharmacies will be allowed to stay open in a specified duration of time, but all the other business activities will remain closed, including all kinds of industrial units in the affected localities.

No home deliveries will be allowed from any eatery. Only one person from a family will be allowed to go outside to buy food items and medicines, and they must show their original CNIC to law enforcement officials.

Only one attendant will be allowed to accompany a person in need of medical care. No private get-together will be allowed. Anyone leaving their house must have a valid reason to do so. Pillion riding has also been strictly banned.

All public transport as well as vehicles of ride-hailing services will also be not allowed to ply any of the roads in the affected areas. The government has vowed that it will make every possible effort to provide people with mobile dispensaries as well as mobile utility stores in the areas affected by the lockdown.

Sealed

The District Central administration has sealed two wedding halls in North Nazimabad over non-compliance with the SOPs. Moreover, they have issued a warning to the owner of a wedding hall in Nazimabad and to two others in Liaquatabad.

Eleven restaurants have been sealed in North Nazimabad for a period of three days, while two others have been issued with warnings. Two restaurants have been sealed for three days in New Karachi, while one has been issued with a warning.

Twelve restaurants have been sealed in Gulberg, while one has been issued with a warning. Two restaurants have also been sealed in Liaquatabad. A medical laboratory in North Nazimabad that was found to have been violating the SOPs has been told to offer free masks to people for three days.

Out of the 46 wedding halls in District South, 12 were inspected but none were fined, warned or sealed. Out of the 144 wedding halls in District East, 12 were inspected. All six wedding halls in District Malir were inspected.

None of the halls in the two districts were fined, warned or sealed. Out of the 73 wedding halls in District Korangi, 15 were inspected and two of them were sealed for three days. According to the final tally, 29 restaurants were sealed in District Central, and nine each in South and East districts.

Fifteen restaurants in District East were also issued with warnings. Eight restaurants in District Korangi, seven in District Malir and four in District West were also sealed.