Zubair Qureshi
The capital administration is all set to flex its muscle against the violators of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued for the upcoming Eidul Azha, most probably on July 31.
Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, Hamza Shafqaat while talking to media here Monday said because of the effective strategy and smart lockdown coronavirus average has declined to 1%—1.5% in the city and “we cannot allow the cattle dealers, customers and related businesses to waste this hard-earned success.”
The DC was of the view that in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) alone 146,676 coronavirus tests were conducted so far and the number is equal to the total tests conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
This testing, tracing and putting into quarantine policy bore fruit and today we have seen the number of the new cases declining fast.
In hospitals, more than 60% beds allocated for coronavirus patients are lying empty and on average out of 2,000 tests, 98 are testing positive.
About the SOPs during the Eidul Azha, the DC said both the seller and the customer would be required to wear face masks.
These cattle markets will be functional only during the given time i.e. from 6am to 7pm and during the market hours, there will be no food or eatery allowed inside the market.
ICT Health teams will be deputed in the markets that would be carrying out snap tests after regular intervals.
Similarly, he said Namaz-e-Eid SOPs have also been issued and it has been agreed that Eid prayers will be offered at different times and in different mosques so that people could not assemble at one place.
The faithful will be allowed to offer prayers, maintain safe distance and wear masks. During the last four weeks, the ICT teams fined more than 200,000 people for violating SOPs particularly for not wearing face masks.
We shall be taking all the possible steps to save the cattle market from the coronavirus, said Hamza Shafqaat.
He said it is a challenge for the capital administration but to meet the challenge, we need the support of the people of Islamabad.
In June we were registering 200 to 300 new cases and that was largely due to SOPs violations during Eidul Fitr and in July the number has come down to below 100. We will try our best to prevent virus resurgence, he said and for this purpose we require people’s cooperation.
Islamabad on Monday reported 14,108 positive cases of coronavirus and 153 deaths. That means in the last twenty-four hours 85 new cases and one death were recorded.
