LAHORE - Fearing local transmission of virus after emergence of dozens of COVID-19 cases, District Administration on Saturday sealed 13 localities in the provincial metropolis.

The Administration sealed Raiwind City, Sikandria Colony, Makhan Pura, Small Industries Housing Society Defense B, Begum Kot Shahdara, Rustram Park, Samanabad, various areas of Gulshan-e- Ravi, Railway Colony Mughalpura, Rehman Pura, Chah Miran, China Scheme Gujarpura, Gohawa Village Bedian Road and portions of Cantonment and Defense Housing Authority after emergence of large number of cases.

Deputy Commissioner Danish Afzaal confirmed restricting unnecessary movement in these hotspots after reporting of 66 COVID-19 patients. He said that process of screening of 574 suspected patients in these localities had been initiated. He said that violation of section 144 would not be tolerated. He said these localities would remain fully or partially sealed till removal of potential hotspots.

Disappearance of a confirmed COVID-19 patient from Lahore and his appearance in Mianwali has raised alarm among healthcare managers in the province.

Sal Rehman, a security guard at a private school in Gulberg, was in close contact of his two nephews under treatment at Mayo Hospital. Health team took his sample and on getting positive results contacted him only to find that he was in Mianwali. The team asked him to go to the nearby hospital immediately. Rehman approached Emergency of Mianwali Hospital and complained about diarrhea. On a later stage, he also informed the duty doctor about the call from the Mayo Hospital. Confirmation of positive test from the Mayo Hospital panicked the duty doctors and other staff. The MS has accordingly informed the CEO Health Mianwali about exposure of doctors and their becoming contacts of disguised patient.

As many as 74 new COVID19 patients were reported from across the province on Saturday, taking the number of confirmed cases to 2410.

Out of 2410 confirmed COVID19 patients, 747 are preachers of Tableeghi Jamat, 701 pilgrims who recently returned from Iran, 80 prisoners and 882 citizens who either had travel history or fell victim to local transmission.

So far 21 patients have died in the province and 39 have defeated the deadly virus. As many as eight patients were discharged from Mayo Hospital on Saturday after complete recovery. Two children including a 10 years old boy and 15 month old girl were discharged from Children’s Hospital after recovering from COVID-19. Both the kids remained at Isolation Ward for 10 days.

Of the 747 confirmed COVID19 preachers, 462 are at quarantine centre at Raiwind, 47 in Bhakar, 35 each in Hafizabad, Sargodha and Jhelum, 25 in Vehari, 19 in Sialkot, 16 in Layyah, 13 in Mandi Bahauddin, 10 in Gujrat, nine in Bahawalnagar, eight in Sheikhupura, seven in Mianwali, six each in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, four in Rahim Yar Khan, three in Narowal, two each in Nankana Sahib, Gujranwala and Khushab and one in Rajanpur.

As many as 10,263 preachers who have recently attended Tableeghi Ijtema are at quarantine centres in 33 districts for testing and isolation.

Out of 701 confirmed patients from amongst pilgrims, 457 are at quarantine centre in Multan, 221 in Dera Ghazi Khan and 23 in Faisalabad.

So far 882 citizens have also been tested positive for the virus from across the province. These people either have a travel history or they got infected through local transmission.

The highest number of cases has been reported from Lahore where 396 patients are under treatment at different centres.

As many as 129 patients are under treatment in Gujrat, 64 in Rawalpindi, 38 in Gujranwala, 29 in Jhelum, 28 in Faisalabad, 27 in Sialkot, 22 in Rahim Yar Khan, 18 in DG Khan,  16 in Nankana Sahib, 13 in Vehari, 12 in Hafizabad, 10 each in Mianwali and Sheikhupura, nine in Kasur, eight each in Sargodha, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal and Chiniot, five each in Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur, four each in Chakwal and Multan, three each in Khushab and Lodhran, two in Toba Tek Singh and one each in Attock, Layyah, Okara and Jhang.

Punjab Health Department has forwarded SOPs for handling of COVID19 patients and saving other prisoners in jails to the Home Department.

As per spokesperson of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, so far 31535 suspected patients have been tested for the dealy virus. Out of these, he said, 2280 were tested positive. He said that all patients were getting treatment at quarantine centres and isolation wards at public sector hospitals. He said that serious patients were immediately shifted to High Dependency Units. He urged people to stay at home, frequently wash hands and use hand sanitizer. He advised social distancing and adopting precautionary measures while attending sick family members