LAHORE: Amid a rapid surge in the number of positive Covid-19 cases in the province, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Monday announced a 15-day selective lockdown in Lahore which will come into effect from Tuesday midnight.
Addressing a press conference, Dr Yasmin said that selected neighbourhoods including Shahdara, Mozang, Walled City, Harbanspura, Nishtar Town, Allama Iqbal Town will be locked down completely from midnight.
According to the health minister, more than 300 cases had been recorded in each of these areas which is why the decision to enforce a lockdown was taken there.
However, Dr Yasmin said pharmacies, tandoors, and dairy shops will remain open in these areas and so will any factories that are making protective equipment. “These areas will be locked down for at least two weeks and then we will observe the results,” she said.
Dr Yasmin lamented the “wrong” criticism the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government received for her allegedly loose handling of the pandemic. “If [you say that] our government has failed, so has every other government in the world,” she said.
“The media is comparing us to New Zealand and Taiwan. The population of New Zealand is half [about 5 million] of that of Lahore’s. Controlling the virus there is much easier than controlling it in a thickly populated country like ours,” she observed.
“People do not understand that this is a viral infection. Even in China, where they followed strict measures with commendable discipline, there is a resurgence of cases,” she added.
Beijing reported its second consecutive day of record new numbers of positive Covid-19 cases on Monday, adding urgency to efforts to rein in a sudden resurgence of the coronavirus in the Chinese capital.
