Rawalpindi - Two persons including a caretaker of a shrine died of novel coronavirus in the district.
Saeen Rashid, the caretaker of Kalyam Sharif shrine, has died of Covid-19 and was buried inside the tomb of his forefathers as per SOPs of Punjab government.
Another woman died of coronavirus in Union Council Takhtpari and was laid to rest as per SOPs of government. They revealed the deceased was sister of Malik Akmal, a driver in National Accountability Bureau (NAB), who along with his mother also died of Covid-19 in UC Takhtpari. Wife of Malik Akmal is also infected with Covid-19. They added the family got infected with coronavirus after the heirs of Malik Akmal had snatched his dead body from officials of health department and other paramedics from a military hospital and buried while violating SOPs.
On the other hand, 48 more people including two police officers, a medical officer and two inmates of Adiala Jail tested positive of Covid-19 and 12 patients recovered from the disease.
The infected police officers were identified as Station House Officer (SHO) Police Station (PS) New Town Inspector MirzaJavedIqbal and ASI AtifFida. Those who fell prey to novel coronavirus in Adiala Jail included MO Dr Khalil Malik, Noor ul Amin and Ali Mustafa. The number of confirmed patients in Rawalpindi district reached at 3099 while 117 people died and 1514 patients discharged after recovery from Rawalpindi’s four main hospitals.
At present, 1468 confirmed patients are under treatment including 397 patients in four government-run hospitals - Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital.
On the other hand, Regional Transport Authority (RTA) issued challans to 43 public transport vehicles while 37 vehicles impounded and imposed fines worth Rs46,000 on violations of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in different parts of the district.
Different teams of the district administration under the supervision of assistant commissioners visited the markets and bazaars in Raja Bazaar, Saddar, Commercial Market and main bazaars of seven tehsils of Rawalpindi district including Murree, Taxila, Gujar Khan, Kahuta, KotliSattian and KalarSyedan.
Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Capt (R) Muhammad Mehmood told media that to implement the standard operating procedures in the markets and bazaars, the district administrations sought help of Prime Minister’s Tiger Force volunteers.
He said that the tiger force would create awareness among the people to wear mask in the public places for the safety of themselves and their families. He said that the safety measures were necessary to avoid spread of disease in the area.