Islamabad: A number of businessmen and traders have been arrested for defying the Punjab government’s orders of nine-day complete lockdown in the province effective from Tuesday until August 5.
The provincial government says the measure has been taken to check the spread of COVID-19 during the Eid Al Adha holidays. However, it has triggered anger and anguish among traders.
On first day of the lockdown, police arrested a large number of traders and shopkeepers in all the major cities of the province including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Sialkot and Dera Ghazi Khan as they tried to open shops and do business as usual.
Baton charge, protests
In Lahore, Faisalabad and Jhang, police had to resort to baton charge as the traders resisted closing down of their business saying they were facing losses due to the three-month lockdown and restricted business schedule. The latest decision of lockdown, they said, would prove disastrous for their already dying businesses and they would oppose any forcible closure of their businesses.
After the arrest of their colleagues, traders in Faisalabad took out a protest rally to the city’s famous clock tower square and staged a sit-in against what they called the state’s coercive measures.
In Rawalpindi, too, a large number of shoppers thronged markets causing gridlock at the main crossings of Murree Road and in Raja Bazaar.
The traders rejected the government’s move and announced that they would not pull down their shutters.
Lowest number of infections in 3 months
Pakistan on Tuesday registered fewer than 1,000 cases of coronavirus (936) and 23 deaths in a period of 24 hours. With these figures, the country has recorded a total of 272,946 infections and 5,865 deaths, with 26,924 active cases.
The total number of recovered cases are reported to be 242,436. During the last 24 hours, 19,610 tests were conducted countrywide that makes Pakistan’s total number of tests so far at 1,909,846. According to the national health ministry’s portal, Pakistan’s recovery rate is 88% while the death rate is 2.1%.
Sindh government extends business hours at cattle markets
The Sindh government on Tuesday through an official notification extended the closing time of the cattle markets by four hours.
Earlier, these makeshift markets of sacrificial animals closed at 7pm but now the Sindh government has allowed them to remain open until 11pm.
According to the notification, the decision has been taken as per the discussions and decisions at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
