Punjab govt mulls complete lockdown in some cities before Eid: sources

LAHORE: Punjab government has mulled over imposing complete lockdown in some cities of the province before Eid over reporting a higher positivity ratio, ARY NEWS reported quoting sources.

According to sources, a meeting of the Punjab cabinet headed by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar mulled over the rising COVID-19 situation in the province and decided to further tighten SOPs in 12 cities including Lahore.

“The meeting mulled over an option to impose complete lockdown in cities witnessing higher COVID positivity,” they said adding that an important task in this regard has been given to the cabinet committee on coronavirus.

The cabinet body has been further directed to suggest recommendations regarding closing down markets and lowering rush at these places.

“A monitoring committee will submit its report on oxygen supplies in the province to the chief minister,” they said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab remains the most affected province from COVID-19 in the country as it reported a record of 127 deaths from Covid-19 in a day, health department officials said on Wednesday.

According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, 127 people died from the virus overnight, pushing the total number of fatalities in the province to 8,229.

As many as 2,670 new infections emerged when 20,665 samples were tested. The tally of confirmed cases in the province climbed to 296,144 with the addition of 2,670 cases.

Lahore reported 1,257 new infections, Faisalabad 239, Multan 184, Sargodha 147, Okara 119, Rawalpindi 108, and Bahawalpur 77.