Our Correspondent
Mansehra
The Mansehra district administration on Sunday sealed all hotels in the tourist hotspots of Shogran, Naran and Kaghan after several Covid-19 cases were reported among staff working at different hotels.
Speaking to media, Mansehra Additional Deputy Commissioner Maqbool Hussain said that the district health department had reported 47 Covid-19 cases at private hotels located in these spots.
Following this, it was decided to close down all hotels to curb the spread of the virus, he said. He said 48 hotels, including 22 main businesses and their respective branches, had been sealed at all three tourist spots and the infected patients had been quarantined at the hotels.
He added that arrangements had been made for patients to be quarantined at the hotels by the local health department and officials were in the process of tracing and testing those who had come into contact with the patients. He did not specify for how long the hotels would remain closed but said that they would not be allowed to open till the situation was brought under control.
Meanwhile, the Kaghan Development Authority on Sunday wrote a letter to the Mansehra deputy commissioner, recommending to impose a ‘smart lockdown’ at five hotels and restaurants in Naran after staff tested positive for Covid-19.
A day earlier, the authority had sealed the businesses after workers had tested positive for the coronavirus. “Many employees tested positive for the infection, leading to the sealing of the hotels,” KDA Deputy Director Mazhar Hussain told reporters on Saturday.
However, in a letter, the KDA director general said that the hotels and restaurants had reopened their businesses, despite being sealed, which may lead the spread of the virus. “The KDA authorised officer lodged a complaint at Police Post Naran for lodging FIRs but action is yet to be taken.”
