Lahore partially put under smart lockdown.

LAHORE -- Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said here on Monday that the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in Punjab were 54,138, while 1,537 more people had tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours.

Addressing a press conference at the Chief Minister's Secretariat, the minister said strict lockdown will be enforced in selected hotspots of Lahore. Present with her at the press conference were Commissioner Lahore Saifullah Anjum, CCPO Lahore Zulfiqar Hameed, Additional Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department Asif Tufail, CEO Mayo Hospital Professor Asad Aslam Khan and Deputy Commissioner Lahore Danish Afzal.

She said the prime minister had hinted at a different strategy to counter the coronavirus during his visit to Lahore. 'In the last two days, Shahdara, walled city, Mozang, Shadbagh, Harbanspura, Gulberg, Cantonment, Nishtar Town, Allama Iqbal Town and some other small housing societies have emerged as the worst hit areas of the provincial capital,' the minister disclosed.

'From tomorrow night onwards, these areas will be closed for two weeks. In this duration, a thorough analysis of the COVID-19 cases will be made and if a significant reduction in the cases is noticed, the lockdown may be eased before two weeks,' she said, and added, 'After the lockdown, essential shops, medical stores, medical instrument factories and other industries will be gradually opened in these areas.'

She asked people to take precautionary measures, adding otherwise the government may have to extend the lockdown to other areas.

Punjab health minister said that 1,038 people had so far lost their lives to coronavirus in Punjab, of whom 62 were those who lost their lives in the last 24 hours. 'So far, 18,000 people have recovered in the province,' she said, and added, 'In the last 24 hours, 9,103 tests were conducted whereas the total number of tests conducted so far are 356,678. Lahore is now the epicenter of the corona pandemic in the province as the total number of patients here are 26,487.'

She further said Rawalpindi had 4,217 patients, Multan 3,140, Gujranwala 2,014, Faisalabad 3,750, and in other cities the numbers ranged between 500 to 700.

Dr Yasmin said it was unfortunate that despite the fact that the government had launched an awareness campaign after easing the lockdown, people did not comply with the SOPs. 'Even though strict action was taken and some markets and shops were forcibly closed, still the...