Govt identifies virus hotspots in 20 cities.

Byline: Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD -- As PakisAtan records 120 deaths - the highest ever number of fatalities from novel coronavirus in a day - during the past 24 hours, the government has announced that 20 cities have been identified as potential Covid-19 hotspots/clusters where restrictive measures are needed to contain the virus in line with the prime minister's smart lockdown policy.

During the past 24 hours, the country reported 4,634 Covid-19 cases and 120 deaths, taking the national tally of cases to 146,863 and fatalities to 2,783.

Of the 20 cities, six are in Sindh (Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Ghotki, Larkana and Khairpur), eight in Punjab (Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujarat, Multan, Gujranwala and Dera Ghazi Khan), four in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar, Swat, Malakand and Mardan), besides Balochistan capital Quetta and federal capital Islamabad.

According to a statement of the National Coordination and Operation Centre, the NCOC undertook a comprehensive review of potential Covid-19 clusters and hotspots across Pakistan in line with PM Khan's announcement of containment of Covid-19 through smart lockdown strategy.

'A total of 20 cities across Pakistan have been identified as having likely increase in ratio/speed of infection which needs restrictive measures for containment of Covid-19 and names have been shared with the provinces,' it stated.

To contain the spread of the disease while keeping different sectors open, the government has formulated Tracing, Testing and Quarantine (TTQ) strategy. It is aimed at identifying disease spread, focused clusters/hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns and need-driven resource optimisation at all levels. The TTQ strategy involves ramping up of testing, rapidly tracing the contacts of confirmed positive cases, and effective isolation of positive and suspected cases.

'In Islamabad, Sectors G-9/2 and G-9/3 had more than 300 cases and were sealed along with Karachi Company due to which 50,000 people would be affected. The new hotspots in Islamabad which are being monitored and might be sealed include I-8, I-10, Ghauri Town, Bharakhau, G-6 and G-7,' it added.

AJK's capital city, Muzaffarabad, has been completely shut due to which 200,000 population has been affected.

More than 1,200 other lockdowns were in place in different parts of Pakistan.

To ensure the implementation of health guidelines/instructions and preventive measures including wearing of face mask in public as per the World...