Lahore : Today, the government of Punjab has imposed “micro smart lockdown” in small neighborhoods of three major cities of the province for a period of two weeks to curb the spread of novel coronavirus infection in the region.

The three cities where localities have been sealed are:

• Lahore
• Rawalpindi
• Gujranwala

12 neighborhoods have been sealed in Lahore, three in Rawalpindi, and two localities have been cordoned off in Gujranwala to prevent the further spread of the viral disease. Lahore’s 19,538 residents, Rawalpindi’s 947, and Gujranwala’s 53 people will be under lockdown for the next fourteen days.

Police personnel has been deployed in these selected areas to enforce the lockdown restrictions. The government has also requested the public to cooperate fully with the authorities so that we can effectively restrict the infectivity in the three cities.

According to official figures released by Punjab’s Health Department today, 99 new cases were reported in Punjab in the last 24 hours taking the total cases to 96,057. The good news is that the province has reported zero additional fatalities from COVID-19 for the second day in a row. Punjab's coronavirus death tally stands at 2,188.

The declining number of new cases and deaths in the province are clear evidence of the containment of the virus in the province. Kudos to the provincial government and especially to the frontline workers who risked their own lives to treat the viral patients.