The Islamabad administration has closed Faisal Mosque and Daman-e-Koh for visitors to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the federal capital.
The Additional District Magistrate, Rana Waqas, signed the closure orders of these places from 15 August. Later, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Hamza Shafqaat, also confirmed the development on Twitter.
فیصل مسجد کو عوام کے لئے فی الحال بند کیا جارہا ہے۔ رش کی وجہ سےکرونا پھیلنے کا خدشہ ہے ۔ تکلیف کے لئے معذرت خواہ ہیں
— Office of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) August 15, 2021
The twin cities saw an influx of local tourists on the weekend, especially at these two places, with most of them paying no attention to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
As a result, a spike in virus infections was observed in both cities. During the last 24 hours, at least one COVID-related death was reported in the Rawalpindi district while whereas 581 people were diagnosed with the disease in both areas.
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The positivity rate was recorded at 9.2 percent in Islamabad and 14.5 percent in Rawalpindi, shooting up from 5.5 percent recorded a day earlier.
According to Dawn.com, the deceased, named Mohammad Mehfooz, 75, was a resident of the Rawalpindi city area and was brought to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital on 14 August.
An official of the Ministry of National Health Services said that people had a long weekend due to Independence Day and spent two days on picnics and in markets.
“Earlier, there was a rush in markets as people, especially children, were busy buying flags and other goods related to Independence Day such as fireworks. Now, we are going to have another long weekend on Ashura, due to which on one hand people will participate in processions and majalis and on the other some others will organize picnics as they have still kept meat of sacrificial animals in their freezers,” he said.
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He noted that both activities could cause an uptick in the spread of the virus, and the situation could spiral out of control.
He feared that the administration would need to impose restrictions next month if the coronavirus cases continued to rise.
“I fear that by next month, we will be left with no choice but to enforce restrictions and maybe we will go for the closure of schools and markets. The citizens should strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures and avoid unnecessary gatherings,” he said.
