RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: Three areas of Rawalpindi were sealed on Saturday as a preventive measure to curb the transmission of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic from people to people as an alarming number of Cases have been detected in these areas.
The affected areas including Dhoke Kashmirian, Dhok Paracha and Magistrate Colony have been sealed while the Pakistan army, Rangers and Rawalpindi Police personnel have been deployed to implement the directives.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) Rawal Division Ray Mazhar Iqbal and the Station House Officer (SHO) Sadiqabad Police Station Tahir Rehan also reached Dhoke Kashmirian to inspect the security arrangements.
In his recorded video statement, the SP Ray Mazhar Iqbal said that the personnel of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have been deployed in Dhoke Kashmirian, Dhok Paracha and Magistrate Colony which now have been quarantined to contain the further spread of the epidemic.
However, he said that grocery shops will remain opened in these areas to ensure the access of the local residents to essential food items.
کرونا وائرس سے بچاؤ کے لیے راولپنڈی کےعلاقے ڈھوک کشمیریاں، ڈھوک پراچہ اور میجسٹریٹ کالونی کو سیل کیاگیاہے، اشیائےضروریہ گروسریز وغیرہ کی دکانیں کھلی رہیں گی۔ شہری احتیاط برتیں، غیر ضروری گھرسے باہر مت نکلیں اورقانون نافذ کرنیوالےاداروں کےساتھ تعاون کریں۔
ایس پی رائے مظہر اقبال pic.twitter.com/kua29VMnxv
— Rawalpindi Police (@RwpPolice) March 28, 2020
The SP Ray Mazhar Iqbal said that they resorted to sealing these areas following the emergence of multiple Coronavirus Cases; therefore, the LEAs personnel have also been assigned the task to raise awareness among the masses about the epidemic.
The Superintendent of Police also appealed the local residents to cooperate with the security forces, follow the instructions, stay at home, and don’t walk out of their houses without any urgency.
کرونا وائرس سے بچاو کے لیے سیل کیے گئے متاثرہ علاقے ڈھوک کالا خان، میجسٹریٹ کالونی اور ڈھوک پراچہ میں ایس پی راول ڈویژن رائے مظہر اقبال کی زیرنگرانی راولپنڈی پولیس کی طرف سے شہریوں کو گھروں میں رہنے اور مکمل احتیاطی تدابیر اپنانے کے لیے اعلانات کیے جارہے ہیں۔ pic.twitter.com/maKPURo7jM
— Rawalpindi Police (@RwpPolice) March 28, 2020
Talking to the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency, the former Chairman Union Council (UC) 25 Sajjad Zaheer Bhatti said that the exact number of Coronavirus-infected hasn’t yet been ascertained but they have been told that the epidemic has enveloped the entire locality.
Sajjad Zaheer Bhatti said that a member of a large family who had recently returned from one of the North American or European Countries was diagnosed with the COVID-19 in Shaheen Colony of Dhok Paracha. He said that the infected person was hospitalized while the rest of the family members, though were later tested negative, were earlier quarantined at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University but later they were discharged from the quarantine.
Furthermore, he told that Coronavirus Cases also surfaced in a house on Service Road, Magistrate Colony.
The former Chairman UC 25 said that one of the infected persons in these areas was an employee in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) whereas another person went to Mirpur a few days ago wherein he got infected with the virus.
Meanwhile, rumours are also being propagated, according to which, 40 to 50 Coronavirus Cases have been detected in these three areas which prompted the authorities to seal them.
As per the Punjab Health Department, a total of 497 Coronavirus Cases have so far surfaced throughout the province, of them, 15 are from Rawalpindi.
پنجاب میں کورونا وائرس کے کنفرم مریض 497
لاہور 116
گجرات 51
جہلم 19
راولپنڈی 15
گوجرانوالہ 9
فیصل آباد 9
ڈی جی خان 5
ملتان 3
منڈی بہاوالدین 4
سرگودھا ,میانوالی ,ننکانہ صاحب 2
ناروال, رحیم یار خان, اٹک , بہاولنگر, خوشاب1
زائرین (ملتان ) 46
زائرین (ڈی جی خان ) 207
اموات 5— Health Department Punjab (@HealthPunjabGov) March 28, 2020
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