TAXILA: The administration in Taxila and various parts of Attock, including Hassanabdal and Hazro, took action against shopkeepers on violation of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Shops of the violators were sealed and heavy fines were imposed on them for ignoring the government directives amid the increasing number of coronavirus cases.

In Attock, a team led by Deputy Commissioner Ali Anan Qamar sealed 17 shops, including medical stores, general stores, along with hotels and imposed Rs0.2 million fines on their owners.

In Hazro, the administration sealed two shops for violation of social distancing and not wearing masks besides fines were imposed on 22 shopkeepers.

All Covid-19 casualties in Taxila aged above 50

Assistant Commissioner Mian Mohammad Faheem along with officials of the municipal committee visited markets and shops and sealed 10 shops and imposed fines on their owners.

Assistant Commissioner Hassanabdal Adnan Anjum Raja said 21 shops were sealed and over Rs0.12 million fines imposed on shopkeepers for violations of the SOPs in the city. He said a van stand was also sealed and an FIR lodged against the management for the violation of the SOPs.

He said traffic police also issued tickets to the public transport drivers for not observing social distancing and travelling without wearing masks.

The DC Attock told media that as the number of patients kept on increasing, the administrations of six tehsils of the district had been directed to impose complete lockdown in their respective areas.

He said the district government had decided to ensure strict implementation of the SOPs regarding prevention of coronavirus and directions had been issued to all town administrations to enforce the prevention measures. Responding to a question, he said only those businesses which were following the SOPs would be allowed to open.

Meanwhile, all those who fell prey to Covid-19 in Taxila were above 50 years of age while women patients who died due to virus outnumber men.

People of all age groups from two to 87 years got infected from virus.

The data of the local health department revealed that so far 10 patients succumbed to virus in Taxila.

The youngest among them was a 50-year-old woman which was first causality due to virus in city while latest was 60 years old man who succumbed to virus on June 3. The oldest among them was 75-years-old woman who died due to virus on April 28.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2020