Zubair Qureshi
Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Hamza Shafqaat on Thursday visited various stations of the Metro Bus in the limits of Islamabad and inspected whether the health SOPs and guidelines were being followed or not.
The DC was accompanied by the District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia and officials of the ICT and health department.
During the visit, the Deputy Commissioner made it clear to the people that Section 144 had been imposed in the city according to which wearing of face masks has been made a mandatory act and people found violating the measure will be fined a fine ranging from Rs6,000 to Rs35,00 along with a 6-month jail term.
Besides metro bus stops, the DC also visited a number of markets and shopping centres and examined if they were following the health Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines.
All the shopping malls and commercial centres in Islamabad will be closed at 10 p.m. he said adding the timing for amusement/public parks closure has also been revised to 6 p.m.
A day earlier, the district administration had imposed Section 144 in the Federal Capital for a period of two months, making wearing face masks at public places mandatory to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).
The District Magistrate in a notification, said the Section-144 had been enforced to ensure compliance of Covid-19 SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) among the general public, following the advice of epidemiologists of DC Covid Nerve Center.
“Given the rising positivity of Covid-19 cases it becomes essential that the general public must use/ wear face mask while visiting public places in Islamabad Capital Territory,” he said.
Hamza Shafqaat said on his Twitter handle announced that anyone seen without a face mask would be arrested by the ICT Police. He also shared the notification along with his tweet.
Given the rising positivity of Covid-19 cases it becomes essential that the general public abide by the rules, the notification said.
Islamabad meanwhile, Thursday reported 154 new cases of coronavirus in a period of twenty-four hours and one death thus taking the total number of infections 19,454 and deaths, 215.
Dr Zaeem Zia District Health Officer (DHO) while talking to Pakistan Observer observed that 154 cases were detected after 4,810 tests conducted in the past 24-hours. These cases have surfaced after random testing and also on their arrival to the hospitals of the city.
The positivity rate, he said, for Thursday had even crossed 3pc, i.e. 3.2pc to be exact. The DHO requested the people to wear a mask, stay 6ft distance from others and avoid big crowds.
