Several areas in Islamabad sealed due to surge in COVID-19 cases

Owing to the rising COVID-19 cases, the Islamabad administration has decided to seal several areas in the city by Monday morning.

The restrictions were announced by Deputy Commissioner Muhammed Hamza Shafqat in a Twitter post here on Sunday, reported ARY News.

"In 4 days covid ratio has jumped from less than 1 pc to 5 per cent," he said.

Street 13 Qurtaba Town, Street 18 G-11/2, Street 19 F-6/3, Street 24 G-7/2, Street 29 Block H Soan Garden, Kips Academy PWD and IM School Boys F-8/3 areas were sealed in the federal capital from 9 am tomorrow, reported ARY News.

The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Sunday issued directives for SOPs implementation in high-risk sectors in wake of COVID-19 variants being reported ahead of Eid ul Adha.

According to the NCOC, they have launched special measures to implement COVID SOPs in high-risk sectors. "The provinces have been issued detailed directives for strict implementation on SOPs," it said.

The body overseeing COVID implementation strategies in the country said teams have been formed for implementing facemask and social distancing SOPs. "Guidelines have been issued for cattle markets and Eid ul Adha gatherings," it said, reported ARY News.

Pakistan has recorded the highest COVID-19 positivity ratio at 4.09 per cent in the last 24 hours since May 30, Geo News reported, citing the National Command and Operations Centre's (NCOC) data.

On Sunday, the NCOC said that 1,980 coronavirus cases were detected from 48,382 tests conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, while 27 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, with the most recorded in Sindh followed by Khyber Pakhtunkwa.

Meanwhile, medical officials have warned about the fourth coronavirus wave which is likely to hit the country by late July or early August and raised his concern over the increasing figures of infections once again, Geo News reported.

( With inputs from ANI )