karachi  -  City administration on Friday decided to impose smart lockdown in four districts and micro lock-down in other two districts of Karachi, in the wake surge in number of COVID-19 cases.

It was decided in a meeting presided over by Commissioner and Administrator Karachi Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, attended by all deputy commissioners on Friday.

As per the decision taken in the meeting, smart lockdown would be imposed in districts East, West, Central and South, while districts Korangi and Malir to have micro lockdown. All the depu-ty commissioners briefed Shallwani about precautionary measures and standard operating pro-cedures (SOPs) in their respective districts.

The deputy commissioners said that notification regarding restrictions in high risk area would be issued at the earliest after consultation with health officials.

The Commissioner said that COVID-19 was spreading quite rapidly and smart lockdown in most affected areas was need of the hour. He directed deputy commissioners to take effective measures to ensure that SOPs and preventive measures were adopted in true letter and spirit. “A campaign being run to ensure following of SOPs at marriage halls, restaurants and super markets should continue,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner held a meeting with office bearers of Marriage Hall Association. The association’s president Rana Raees Ahmed assured that they would follow all the SOPs. It was also decided in the meeting that buffet would not be allowed in the marriage halls.