After the spread of coronavirus outbreak, people are asked to stay at their homes and practice social distancing to avoid the spread of the virus. Amid all this, people need groceries for their homes and some people might be worried about how to go and get them from the market.
The Current did some research and listed a few online grocery stores in your city.
Residents of Lahore’s Imamia Colony claim that the area has been sealed off by the police amid “a massive increase in the COVID-19 cases” as authorities told them to not leave their houses; however, both the government and police deny doing so.
Reports quoted locals as saying that amid an increasing number of coronavirus cases in Punjab, especially Lahore, the government had put the residential area in the provincial capital under lockdown. They claimed that a fatality was also reported in the locality and the health department was “downplaying the situation”.
The government, they said, had failed to screen people returning from Iran which led to the outbreak in the colony.
“The health department is hiding the actual number of the cases,” the residents claimed, urging higher-ups to take notice of the cases.
According to an audio clip viral on social media, a purported sub-inspector stationed at Shahdara Police Station could be heard telling someone to stay away from Imamia Colony due to a higher number of cases there. As per the clip, a patient also died of the virus and at least 80 per cent were infected in the colony.
Shahdara Police denied this and said they didn’t seal the area, whereas the health secretary and his spokesperson remained unavailable despite many calls.
Punjab government spokesperson Mussarat Jamsheed said it was all rumours. “All the areas are under observation and we are not hiding anything from the public,” the official said while asking people not to panic.
The first two cases of the new coronavirus in the Gaza Strip — a war-shattered Palestinian territory with a fragile health system — were confirmed in men who attended a mass religious gathering 10 days ago in Pakistan, United States’ (US) National Public Radio(NPR) has quoted an Islamabad-based Palestinian diplomat as saying.
The diplomat said the men were part of a two-day gathering that ended March 12. The gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat, a global Muslim missionary group, brought together tens of thousands of preachers from some 80 countries and raised concerns about the virus’ spread in Pakistan and beyond.
The Pakistani authorities had urged for the cancellation of the five-day Tablighi Ijtema congregation hosted annually near Lahore but organisers from the movement had ignored government advice to postpone, The News reported.
A longtime Pakistani Tablighi Jamaat member, Arif Rana, said the gathering was canceled on March 12 because of rain — attendees sleep in the open. But Azhar Mashwani, focal person to the Punjab chief minister (CM) on digital media, said that it ended because of coronavirus fears.
ملک بھر میں کورونا وائرس کے خطرے کی وجہ سے رائیونڈ تبلیغی اجتماع حکومت پنجاب کی درخواست پر عشاء کی نماز کے بعد ختم کر دیا گیا ہے، اور تمام حاضرین (30-35 ہزار) مولانا ابراہیم کی اختتامی دعا کے بعد اپنے اپنے علاقوں کو روانہ ہو گئے ہیں#PunjabCoronavirusUpdate
Most attendees were Pakistani, but at least a few thousand came from other countries, Rana told NPR.
Omar al-Tabatibi said his 79-year-old grandfather, Mohammed, and friend Amer Doghmosh had attended the Lahore event.
Previous statements from health officials had misidentified the men as being between 30 and 40. “My grandfather learnt about the conference by chance from a friend while he was in Pakistan so he wanted to attend,” Tabatibi said.
After returning from Pakistan, his grandfather stayed several days in Egypt before taking the long journey overland to Gaza, Tabatibi said. “Maybe, my grandfather caught corona in Egypt and not Pakistan, no one knows,” he added.
Five preachers from Kyrgyzstan stayed in a mosque in Islamabad after attending the Tablighi Jamaat gathering and have also tested positive, said a senior health official who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
On Twitter, Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat, the deputy commissioner of Islamabad, accused the Kyrgyz group of “criminal carelessness” because “they knew that one of them had symptoms and they kept on roaming around”.
Disinfecting the mosque. Terrible lapse and criminal carelessness on part of the Khateeb and Tableeghi jamat. They knew that one of them had symptoms and they kept on roaming around https://t.co/LhaCyCsFYFpic.twitter.com/uWOPKNYrsk
Concerns have also been raised in Southeast Asia about infection after a Tablighi Jamaat gathering outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in late February and early March. Malaysian media reported that more than half of the country’s known coronavirus cases were traced to the gathering. Preachers who attended also spread the virus to Brunei and Thailand, The New York Times reported, saying the gathering created “the largest known viral vector in Southeast Asia”.
Deaths, economic meltdown and a planet on lockdown: the coronavirus pandemic has brought us waves of bad news, but squint and you might just see a few bright spots, AFP reported.
From better hygiene that has reduced other infectious diseases to people reaching out as they self-isolate, here are some slivers of silver linings during a bleak moment.
WASH YOUR HANDS!
The message from health professionals has been clear from the start of the outbreak: wash your hands.
Everyone from celebrities to politicians has had a go at demonstrating correct technique — including singing “Happy Birthday” twice through to make sure you scrub long enough, and hand sanitiser has flown off the shelves.
All that extra hygiene appears to be paying off, at least in some countries, including Japan, where the number of flu cases appears to be sharply down.
Japan recorded 7.21 million cases by early March — usually around the peak of the flu season that runs until May.
That was far below figures for previous years, including the 21.04 million infections seen during the 2017/18 season.
“We estimate that one of the reasons behind it is that people are now much more aware of the need to wash hands… given the spread of the new coronavirus,” Japanese health ministry official Daisha Inoue told AFP.
CARBON CURBS
Factory shutdowns, travel bans and a squeeze on demand spell economic disaster, but it isn’t all bad news for the environment.
In the four weeks to March 1, China’s CO2 emissions fell 200 million tonnes, or 25 percent, compared to the same period last year, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
That’s a decline equivalent to annual CO2 emissions from Argentina, Egypt or Vietnam.
The slowdown in China also saw coal consumption at power plants there down 36 percent, and the use of oil at refineries drop by nearly as much.
Air travel is also grinding to a virtual halt, achieving at least a short-term drop-off in emissions from a highly polluting industry.
And there have been other environmental benefits, including crystal-clear waters in Venice canals usually choked with tourist-laden boats.
Unfortunately, experts say the cleaner air may be short-lived.
Once the health crisis is over, experts expect countries will double down to try to make up for lost time, with climate change concerns likely to be sidelined in a race to recover economic growth.
SAVE THE PANGOLIANS
The source of the coronavirus remains in question, but early tracking focused on a market in China’s Wuhan where a variety of live wildlife was on sale for consumption.
A number of animals, including bats and the highly endangered pangolin, have been identified as possible culprits for the virus.
As a result, China in February declared an immediate and “comprehensive” ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals that was welcomed by environmentalists.
Beijing implemented similar measures following the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s, but the trade and consumption of wild animals, including bats and snakes, made a comeback.
This time the ban is permanent, raising hopes that it could end the local trade in wildlife.
“I do think the government has seen the toll it takes on national economy and society is much bigger than the benefit that wild-eating business brings,” said Jeff He, China director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Reports linking the virus to the pangolin have also scared off would-be consumers of the scaly mammals elsewhere, with bushmeat vendors in Gabon reporting a plunge in sales.
APART, TOGETHER
One of the most difficult aspects of the stringent lockdowns imposed to slow the spread of the virus has been loneliness, with families and friends forced to endure weeks or even months apart.
But some people have found the measures are creating a sense of community spirit and prompting them to make more of an effort to check in with family and reconnect with friends.
In Colombia, where a nearly three-week period of self-isolation is now in place, 43-year-old Andrea Uribe has organised everything from group exercise classes to family talent shows using video messaging programs including Zoom.
“I have called my parents more often, I have talked to friends that I usually don’t talk to… I have organised Zoom meetings with friends in multiple countries,” Uribe, who works in development, told AFP.
“It is wonderful to be forced to be there for one another. It has made me more creative. It just shows that we need to be present in people’s lives.”
Four individuals have tested positive out of the 19 Chinese nationals who were tested for the coronavirus at Lahore’s Services Hospital late on Sunday.
According to Dunya News, the Chinese nationals were working on various projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The patients were shifted to an isolation ward of the hospital.
According to hospital administration, the Chinese nationals will be kept in the isolation ward for a period of 14 days to stop the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country rose to 892 after Punjab and Sindh reported new cases in the province on Tuesday.
According to Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar, there are 176 confirmed cases of the virus in Dera Ghazi Khan, 51 in Lahore, five in Gujrat, six in Gujranwala, three in Jhelum, two each in Rawalpindi and Multan and one case each in Faisalabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Rahim Yar Khan and Sargodha.
Sindh remains the worst affected province by the coronavirus in the country so far, with a total of 399 coronavirus cases. In Karachi alone, the numbers of cases of the virus are 130, with the majority said to be cases of “local transmission”.
According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Health Department, the number of cases in the province stands at 38 after four new patients were reported earlier this week, while the number of reported cases in Gilgit-Baltistan (GM) is 80.
Balochistan has reported 108 cases, while one case has been reported from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). In Islamabad, 15 patients have been confirmed to have contracted the virus, Geo reported.
The country has also reported six deaths from the virus.
As the global pandemic of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — continues to spread in Pakistan with nearly 250 infections, the Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led Punjab government appears to be lagging behind other provincial administrations such as that of Sindh where a spike in coronavirus cases has led to strict measures being put in place to contain the disease.
SOCIAL INTERACTION:
As per the details, Punjab has woken up late to the grave challenge of coronavirus, a proof of which is it appearing scrambled to find ways to deal with the crisis while struggling to enforce its own imposition of Section 144 to discourage public gathering as chaos and panic mar daily routine.
While 10,000 people reside at the Tableegi Markaz in Raiwind, another mosque, Masjid Ibrahim, is ramping up preparations to hold a big gathering to mark ‘Shabe Jumma‘. These centres are sending off at least a dozen parties to 150-200 mosques in the city for preaching purposes, whereas almost 1,000 parties [jamaats] are going across Pakistan for the same.
The activities are nothing but a recipe for disaster as they can lead to a countrywide spread of the virus. But Raiwind Assistant Commissioner (AC) Adnan Rasheed says the ijtima [gathering] won’t lead to an increase in the coronavirus cases as the authorities have washed and chlorinated the area where the gathering is being held.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Afzal Danish, on the other hand, says the Raiwind gathering is in violation of the law and such transgression would be dealt with. “All gatherings have been banned. There is no decision on Friday prayers as of yet because we need the sanction of religious authorities,” he said, adding any other activity inside or outside any mosque would be a violation.
But that’s not it.
While according to the DC, shelter homes — another place with maximum social interaction — have been told to serve food to groups of two or three at a time in addition to bedding made at a distance of three feet, The Current has learnt that none of the shelter homes in Lahore are observing the measures as almost 4,484 people are living together and hundreds gather there to eat on a daily basis.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:
Meanwhile, schools and universities are also flouting the government’s ban. The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and various private schools remain open for faculty in complete disregard of the measures taken by the government.
To prevent children and students from getting infected by the coronavirus pandemic, the government of Punjab had last week ordered all educational institutes, including private ones, throughout the province to remain closed till April 5 at least.
LAHORE: People pray outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral as it was closed after Pakistan shut all its schools and discouraged large gatherings amid coronavirus fears. (Reuters)
The instructions had come keeping in view the situation of the pandemic as the government had also imposed an emergency in the province. Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid had said that the Punjab CM reviewed the situation emerging out of an increasing number of positive coronavirus cases in the region and the status of preparedness at health facilities in the province.
ECONOMICS:
According to reports, the Punjab government is also grappling with the shortage of hand sanitisers while face masks are being sold at exorbitant rates. “Most of the stores do not have face masks and hand sanitisers, and if they have, they are selling these items at a 300 per cent surge rate,” read a report submitted to CM Buzdar.
With the courts being petitioned to take notice in this regard, Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Mamoon Rashid Sheikh has summoned the federal and provincial authorities concerned to explain their position. In an earlier hearing, Punjab healthcare officials had told the court that the government imposed a ban on hoarding and profiteering of surgical masks in wake of their demands following the coronavirus pandemic.
It said FIRs [Firs Information Reports] were being registered against the hoarders and profiteers under Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act of 1977 among other laws. However, shopkeepers, amid the unavailability of these commodities, are blaming wholesalers.
DOCTORS AT RISK:
Separately, young doctors have also gone on a strike over the shortage of safety kits.
Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) has demanded safety kits for the entire staff of hospitals dealing with the suspected corona patients, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, while terming the arrangements made by the government as insufficient.
The YDA office bearers said that the safety kits provided to the doctors in hospitals are not according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and that they were working under highly vulnerable circumstances. “The N95 masks are not available in the hospitals despite the fact that the staff treating corona patients used the same mask in all the hospitals across the globe,” the doctors said.
LAHORE: A view of scanning and checking of body temperature of passengers arriving from different cities in the provincial capital of Punjab.(Online)
While following a meeting with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, YDA has announced calling off its strike in public sector hospitals, they have warned taking to streets once again if their demands are not met at the earliest. Sarwar has reportedly taken notice and ordered the vice chancellor of the University of Health Sciences to provide safety kits to the doctors within 24 hours.
WHAT THE GOVT IS DOING:
It has been reported that the government is going to purchase 200 ventilators and expand isolation wards in Mayo and Services hospitals. The Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Center (PKLI&RC), on the other hand, has been dedicated to coronavirus treatment while a separate 70-bed block is being established.
Punjab government would also purchase 300 screening kits. Further, the government will provide coronavirus kits at subsidised rates to private hospitals and laboratories.
A hostel of the University of Engineering Technology (UET) has been converted into a 400-bed hospital for coronavirus patients, while the campuses of UET and GCU in Kala Shah Kaku are where suspected patients will be kept.
A government spokesperson told The Current that while CM Buzdar is engaging senior journalists and religious leaders to help the government in spreading coronavirus awareness, the government itself is also doing its best to deal with the crisis.
LAHORE: A family wears face masks to help prevent exposure to the new coronavirus as they travel on a motorbike. (AP)
The spokesperson shared that the government had 40 high dependency units (isolation wards) in major government hospitals across Punjab, one government testing facility in Lahore and Rawalpindi each and a private testing facility of Shaukat Khanum helping them for free. They also shared details of the quarantine facilities the government has ready for patients and said that protective suits were provided to all healthcare professionals working in isolation wards.
“The CM himself is at the forefront, and in this regard, will today (Wednesday) chair an apex committee meeting, visit the quarantine facilities established in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan besides holding a media briefing to clarify the situation for people,” the spokesperson added.
To a question, they said the government was deliberating certain other steps too, but couldn’t do much without the masses’ help.
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar has rubbished reports claiming that the individual who passed away at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital was suffering from the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — and marked the first fatality in Pakistan due to the global pandemic.
Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan’s first death due to coronavirus had been reported in Lahore. Reports that had come following a viral video that showed the deceased being brought out of the hospital in a coffin by staff in hazmat suits, had not drawn any official statements except Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid saying that results of the patient’s coronavirus test were still awaited.
A private media outlet had, however, quoted health officials as saying that the patient “did die due to coronavirus”.
“We have received test reports of Imran Ali, who lost his life in Mayo Hospital, and his cause of death was not #COVID19. So far Punjab has 8 confirmed cases and are being provided best available treatment [sic],” Buzdar tweeted later in the day.
We have received test reports of Imran Ali, who lost his life in Mayo Hospital, and his cause of death was not #COVID19
So far Punjab has 8 confirmed cases and are being provided best available treatment.
I urge everyone that these are testing times & we should act responsibly!
After allowing the general public to visit his official residence on recreational tours earlier, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar has announced that the Governor House in Lahore will soon open its doors for weddings and commercial events.
Addressing a news conference at the Governor’s House on Wednesday, Sarwar announced that the lawn of the building was available for corporate events at Rs1 million per function while any kind of function could be hosted for Rs500,000 in Darbar Hall. Wedding shoots can be arranged for Rs50,000 and commercial photo-shoots against Rs1 million, while guided tours of the Governor’s House will be organised for groups of 10 persons on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We believe the business plan will help the Governor’s House to reduce its burden on the public kitty. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has made this business plan as its promise and all earnings of these functions will be directly deposited in the government of Pakistan’s account,” The Express Tribune quoted Sarwar as saying.
“The estate will be rented out for commercial events only and no political party will be allowed to host its function at the Governor’s House,” he said and indicated that all events would be booked on the official website of the Governor’s House.
“When someone will send his request to book an event at the website, the Governor’s House staff will contact the person to finalise arrangements. All the payments will be made through bank account and no Governor’s House employee will be authorised to receive payments in cash from the person or company holding the event,” he elaborated while highlighting the procedure for booking.
The Governor’s House website shows that name, CNIC, passport number, nationality, mobile phone number and address is required for booking of events. Events can be booked for two slots from 10 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm for seven days a week. Event booking will be granted subject to approval. Prior approval is required for payment and confirmation will be made accordingly while two functions can be booked for the same date and time.
As per booking terms mentioned on the website, the applicant has to provide a complete list of participants, staff and workers. Administration of Governor’s House will not be responsible for arrangements or installation of any temporary facility.
Negligence of the City Traffic Police, Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) and Excise Taxation and Narcotics Control (ET&NC) Department has been exposed as Lahoris resort to laminating or tampering their vehicles’ registration plates to evade e-challans and surveillance through PSCA cameras.
According to a report, while non-computerised plates are not uncommon in the provincial capital, a significant increase has been observed in the use of tampered and laminated registration plates as well.
There are lamination sheets available in the market and once applied, the PSCA cameras cannot read the number plates, thus providing drivers protection from e-challan, the report quoted a trader at one of Lahore’s largest automotive market, the Montgomery Road.
The shopkeeper said that these lamination sheets were not commonly available and are only sold secretly. He further said that a person could get a single number plate laminated for Rs150-200 in parts of Chauburji, Township and Johar Town.
According to a PSCA official, the tactics used by the people to hide their number plates are creating a hurdle in penalising traffic violators. The official said that the authority can only catch such people when they are on a surveillance operation, otherwise, it is the responsibility of the traffic police and the ET&NC Department to prevent this from happening.
The report quoted an ET&NC official as saying that the department was not entertaining complaints related to computerised plates as their role was to only issue them besides helping in the enforcement of its display. “Chapter 8 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance mandates cops to keep a check on improper and tampered number plates.”
Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Captain (r) Syed Hammad Abid, on the other hand, said that the traffic police were penalising people whose number plates were found to be fake, tampered or laminated. “We have penalised 64,283 persons for driving without registered number plates and 76,655 for having improper ones.”
