Karachi: Provincial ministers in Sindh have been tasked with visiting different places of Karachi to personally supervise implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) against the spread of coronavirus infection.
The directive to this effect was given by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah as he chaired a meeting of provincial coronavirus Task Force at CM House on Monday.
The meeting was held a day after the Sindh CM himself visited areas of Karachi to check the situation of compliance with the COVID-19 SOPs. The army troops have already been deployed in the province in aid to civil administration to ensure that the markets and shopping centres comply with the SOPs.
Viral disease
While chairing the meeting, the CM said that the people had not been adhering to the precautionary measures for safety of their health against the viral disease.
He said the visit to different parts of the city by his cabinet members would be helpful in implementing the SOPs against coronavirus.
The CM also asked the senior police officials and Karachi’s Commissioner to enforce the anti-coronavirus precautionary steps in the city.
He decided to enforce more strict precautionary measures in District East of Karachi and Hyderabad city in view of alarming spread of the disease there.
The CM was briefed on the occasion that the coronavirus positivity ratio in Karachi had remained 10.42 per cent while it had been 14.52 per cent in Hyderabad during the last seven days. The prevalence of coronavirus cases in the entire province remains 5.4 per cent.
In all, 154 people died due to coronavirus infection in Sindh in the month of April alone.
Lockdown orders
Meanwhile, the Sindh government’s spokesman Barrister Murtaza Wahab said the government did have received complaints that restaurants in the city were being used to host family feasts in violation of the lockdown orders barring dine-in at the eateries.
He said the non-essential shops remained open after 6pm daily in violation of the government’s lockdown regime.
Barrister Wahab warned the government had to impose strict lockdown measures in the city if in case coronavirus situation worsened further.
He appealed to the concerned traders and general public to lend support to the government and law-enforcement agencies in due observance of the SOPs.
