ISLAMABAD: COVID-19 cases continued to surge in the federal capital as 241 new corona cases were reported from the city during the last 24 hours, National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Saturday.

According to an official of NCOC, as many as 599 cases were reported on Friday while 575 cases were reported on Thursday. He said so far 68,906 cases were reported from the federal capital while 631 deaths were reported from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). He said 55,828 patients had been recovered completely.

Meanwhile, on the direction of the Ministry of National Health Services, the district administration of Islamabad had continued surveillance of different streets of the capital to reduce transmission of the infection in the selected streets and other sectors. They also started taking action on violation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to the coronavirus while visiting marriage halls, markets, and petrol pumps by its inspection teams. The administration has been asked to seal shops, workshops, and restaurants on violation of SOPs. The inspection teams have been directed to impose fines on owners of different shops in case of violation of SOPs.

Commenting on the situation, an official of the Ministry of National Health Services said several local-level administrative decisions were made to control the disease. He advised the citizens to continue following the social distancing, use of mask and other precautionary measures to stop increasing local transmission of COVID-19 in the city.