Zubair Qureshi
The worst nightmare of the residents of Islamabad has come true as officially the federal capital is declared to be under the second wave of coronavirus from today and the district administration in coordination with the health teams is going to seal a number of streets of the several sectors of Islamabad.
According to a statement by Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat the following streets, St 46 Sector F-11/3, St 23 Sector F-11/2, St 58 Sector I-8/2, St 57 Sector I-8/3, St 91 Sector I-8/4, St. 10 Block D Media Town, St 12 I-10/2, St 33 G-11/2, St 30 Pakistan Town Phase 1 and St 35 G-6/2 are being closed and “only those with jobs in essential services and with negative Covid-19 certificate are allowed to leave.”
The statement further says that health teams will complete TTQ and give clearance for opening up while the Assistant Commissioners (ACs) will coordinate too make sure all arrangements are in place.
The Federal Capital on Monday reported once again more than 150 cases of coronavirus, 157 to be exact in the last twenty four hours raising alarm bells for the city managers.
Of these 157 new cases 58 are female while 99 are male, said the DHO Dr Zaeem Zia adding a total of 4,057 tests were conducted in past one day in the federal capital for coronavirus while the positivity ratio has been reported at 3.8%.
A day earlier, Islamabad had seen the highest one-day rise in the number of coronavirus cases with 186 people testing positive on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Postgraduate College for Women in F-7/2 was sealed once more after two people tested positive for Covid-19. The college had reopened on Oct 19 after being sealed for nearly two weeks. The authorities through a notification announced the college has been shifted to Islamabad Model College for Girls (Postgraduate) F-7/4 (Margalla College) to avoid spread of novel coronavirus.
Schools that have been allowed to reopen include the School of Wisdom in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad Model School for Girls (IMSG) in Korang Town, Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) in G-10/2, DHA-I Education System, Roots School Kingston Campus ion G-15, Beaconhouse School H-8/4, Islamabad Model College of Boys (IMCB) in G-10/4, IMCG I-9/1, Headstart School in I-8/4 and Roots School Piccadily Campus in F-8/4.
Dr Zaeem Zia told Pakistan Observer though Islamabad is also testing more than other provinces, with 4,946 tests carried out in the last 24 hours. The test-positivity rate is 3.76pc.
We are conducting more tests that provide the opportunity to detect and trace more cases and break the chain, as undiagnosed cases increase the chance of spread of the virus, he said adding, once a case is confirmed, it becomes possible to ensure that the patient will stay at his/her house or in isolation so that the virus does not spread.