The Sindh government has decided to impose a complete lockdown on Friday from 12 noon to 3 pm.
According to sources, the decision has been taken to limit large gatherings during Friday prayers. The provincial government, in consultation with Ulema of different sects, has decided to go for lockdown in a bid to limit people from gathering in mosques in large numbers.
All shops, business centers will also remain closed during the lockdown. Sindh government had imposed a complete lockdown for 15 days from March 23 in order to contain and curb further spread of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, three more patients recovered from novel coronavirus in Sindh today and tested negative for the disease on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the provincial government. Murtaza Wahab said the total number of recovered patients in the province now stands at 54. “People should learn that isolation or social distancing is the only cure to coronavirus. These 54 isolated themselves, can you?”
The confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan has jumped to 2039, whereas, 59 patients have recovered from coronavirus pandemic across the country, according to the National Command and Control Centre. On Friday, March 27, hundreds gathered for the weekly prayers despite strong warnings from the provincial government to avoid congregations amid fears of coronavirus, cases of which continue to rise exponentially all over the country.
In some cases, local police officers had rushed to the mosques to try and discourage people from entering but backed down in the face of possible conflict.
Many of the Ulemas and Imams — prayer leaders — had consequently been booked for violating the government’s predetermined orders but the cases were withdrawn on Monday after religious scholars from different school of thought met Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to voice their concerns. The Ulema then went on to guarantee their full support in the war against coronavirus.
