COVID-19: Movement ban in Karachi after 8pm from tomorrow

Karachi: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that people in Karachi will not be allowed to roam around after 8pm as the province bids to enforce lockdown restrictions and curb the spread of coronavirus.

Shah issued directives to this effect while chairing a meeting of the provincial coronavirus Task Force here at the CM House on Monday. The latest directives will come into effect from Tuesday (May 25).

Shah directed the Inspector-General of Sindh Police to prevent people from unnecessarily roaming around in the city in motor vehicles after 8 pm.

Urgent task

He said that people should only be allowed to travel when they had to genuinely perform an urgent task like visiting a hospital or going to a pharmacy.

He also directed the officials concerned not to turn on the lights of the public parks after the sunset.

He said that if the general public cooperated with the government, the coronavirus cases would come down in the province after two weeks paving the way to withdraw the lockdown restrictions.

The CM said that he would himself make surprise visits to the city to ensure that the lockdown restrictions were duly observed by the shops and departmental stores.

He expressed concern that at present up to 50 per cent of all the coronavirus cases in the country belonged to Sindh.

He was briefed on the occasion that there were 71 patients of coronavirus on ventilators while 604 others were being oxygenated in Sindh.

Positivity ratio

The coronavirus positivity ratio in District East of Karachi has increased to 21 per cent.

Sindh Health Minister, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, has announced to establish special mobile units to vaccinate people of rural areas of the province against COVID-19.

She said that these mobile units would be assembled in addition to the service being provided by Sindh Health Department to vaccinate at home elderly or differently abled persons.

She said the mobile units for rural areas would become operational after more consignments of COVID-19 vaccines would soon arrive in the province. There are 234 coronavirus vaccination centres operational in Sindh.