Zubair Qureshi
The District Health Officer (DHO) of Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia on Wednesday recommended immediate closures of a girls’ college, the Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) I-10/4 after two active cases of coronavirus were reported there.
“It is hereby advised to immediately close down the campus premises for a period till further intimation by the office of the undersigned and conduct thorough disinfection activities as per the guidelines of the National Health Services Regulation & Coordination Ministry. Furthermore the Covid-19 testing of all the exposed staff/students must be performed and adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must be ensured,” says a notification issued on Wednesday with signature of the DHO.
Moreover the letter further recommends quarantine of all the close contacts of the two cases.
The federal capital on Wednesday reported four deaths and 122 new infections during the past twenty-four hours taking the overall infection number to 18,309 and deaths 199. The number of recovered cases so far have been reported to be 16, 888.
According to the DHO of Islamabad, the positivity rate has jumped from 2.1% to 3.19% which is somewhat alarming as previously in the last month it was a little above 1.00 %. The DHO advised the residents not to be lax and keep following health protocols and SOPs regarding coronavirus.
We are closely following each case and tracing their contacts and putting the serious ones under quarantine, he said.
Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has also issued a warning that another lockdown could be imposed to contain COVID-19 deaths if people don’t stop violating social distancing rules.
The announcement on Wednesday came after Pakistan reported 660 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours and 19 single-day deaths.
The daily death toll was one of Pakistan’s highest in more than two months. Deaths from COVID-19 have steadily increased since the government lifted its months-long lockdown in August. Pakistan has reported 324,744 confirmed cases of the virus and 6,692 virus-related deaths since February.
According to a health official overall, Pakistan reports 20 new deaths from Coronavirus in the last 24 hours – the highest daily increase in deaths in over 7 weeks. Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat meanwhile, in a message appealed to the masses to wear masks, keep distance and wash hands unceasingly as the threat of a second wave was looming.
Though the district government has taken all the necessary measures and finanlized a strategy to counter the second wave, this cannot work without people’s cooperation, said the DC while talking to Pakistan Observer.
