MINGORA: Deputy commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam, on public complaints, sealed a private laboratory in Matta on Saturday for conducting tests for Covid-19.

He said strict legal action would be taken against the owners of the laboratories found involved in doing so as they had no such facilities to conduct the tests for coronavirus.

He appealed to the general public to inform the district administration through the control cell set up at his office if any laboratory was conducting tests for Covid-19.

SELF-QUARANTINE: District health officer Dr Ikram Shah on Saturday urged the people returning from abroad to keep themselves in the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine.

Talking to mediapersons about the preventive measures against spread of coronavirus, he said the people returning from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other countries and even cities like Karachi, Islamabad, Mardan, Lahore should follow the instructions regarding coronavirus.

He advised them to refrain from meeting people and socialising with friends and neighbours to help themselves and their community from contracting the disease.

“This is high time that we act rationally instead of being emotional to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, DIG Malakand Mohammad Ijaz Khan has asked the non-locals to leave Swat immediately. “Residents of Swat in other cities can return to their homes after screening,” he said.

Mr Ijaz said the areas across the division where positive cases had surfaced had been sealed and police deployed there for strict monitoring. He said these steps had been taken to stop spread of coronavirus. The police chief also requested prayer leaders to ensure six-foot distance between people offering prayers and wash mosques after congregational prayers.

“The people wanting to help the poor, particularly the daily wagers, should distribute their donations or food packages at their doorsteps,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2020