LHC adjourns plea for separate graveyards for Covid-19 victims

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday put off a petition seeking establishment of separate graveyards for victims of the novel coronavirus until June 3, ARY News reported.

The LHC bench that resumed hearing the petition directed lawyers representing the petitioner as well as the official respondents to forward their arguments in the case on the next hearing.

The petitioner stated before the court that the people affected by Covid-19 are kept in isolation to avert spread of the virus and if any of the patients die of the disease, they are buried in a graveyard in accordance with stringent precautionary measures.

He contended that the victims of the highly contagious disease should be buried in separate graveyards.

The petitioner, therefore, pleaded with the LHC bench to issue directives for the government to establish separate graveyards for coronavirus victims.

The country witnessed 32 more deaths from the novel coronavirus during the past 24 hours as the nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 1,017.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 2,193 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the country to 48,091.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Till now 17,382coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Punjab, 18,964 in Sindh, 6,815 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2,968 in Balochistan, 1,235 in Islamabad, 579 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 148 in Azad Kashmir.