Eleven union councils in Karachi’s East district were completely locked down on Saturday to contain further spread of the novel Coronavirus.
Deputy Commissioner East Ahmed Ali issued directives for sealing these union councils that included UC-6 Gillani Railways, UC-7 Dalmia, UC-8 Jamali Colony, UC-9 Gulshan-II, UC-10 Pehalwan Goth, UC-9 Jacob Line and UC – 10 JamshEd Quarters.
These areas have been sealed in “larger public interest and to prevent widespread outbreak of novel Coronavirus,” according to a notification put out by the deputy commissioner. The Rangers and city police have been instructed to cordon off these localities to ensure public safety.
Talking to the media, the deputy commissioner said these union councils were sealed after the confirmation of more than 150 COVID-19 cases there. He said tests of people residing in these localities will be conducted. The eleven UCs will be de-sealed once the situation improves, Ahmed Ali said. 86 new cases of the novel Coronavirus have been reported in Sindh over the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 1,214.
In a video statement on Saturday, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah confirmed one more person died from COVID-19 during the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll in the province to 22. He said overall 12,209 Coronavirus tests were conducted in the province, whereas, 358 patients have recovered from the contagion thus far.
DMC East Chairman Moeed Anwar has said that the step has spread panic among the citizens who are inquiring how long the closure will last. “The citizens have not been informed properly in this regard.”
“The authorities should have informed the people some time earlier so they could have prepared for this,” he said. Moeed said that over “700,000 people reside within these sealed off areas”.
While speaking to media the deputy commissioner said that people should return to their houses before midnight so that the lockdown measures could be implemented.
Meanwhile, there is a serious mix-up in the numberings of the union councils contained in the notice. Several of the numbers mentioned in the notification are wrongly attributed to the names of neighbourhoods.
Gilani Railway is a part of UC-22 not UC-6, Dalmia is UC-23 not UC-7, Jamali Colony is UC-24 not UC-8, Gulshan Town is UC 27 not 10, Gulzar-e-Hijri is UC-29 not UC-13, Safoora is UC-30 not UC-13, Jacob Lines is UC-10 not UC-9, and Jamshed Quarters is UC-13 not UC-10.
So far, 1,318 COVID-19 cases have been registered in the province with 28 deaths, while Pakistan’s infected tally has surpassed 4,800 with a death toll of 78.
