ABBOTTABAD: The district administration sealed 13 shops for not maintaining social distancing protocols enforced to contain spread of coronavirus here on Wednesday. The garments and shoe selling shops were sealed.

Assistant commissioner, Abbottabad, Dr Mujtaba Barhawana visited the city bazaars along with taxation officer revenue Mazhar Awan, and made repeated announcements through loudspeakers, urging the shopkeepers and the buyers to follow Covid-19 SOPs, but to no avail.

It was noticed that most of the shops were crowded with buyers, with majority of whom not wearing masks.

The assistant commissioner sealed the shops and warned the owners of harsh legal punishment if they did not observe the SOPs in future.

The officials also marked the places outside the shops for the buyers to ensure social distancing.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2020