Virus turns Pakistan’s financial capital into a ‘ghost town’

Marriage halls are closed after government’s announcement of lockdown in Pakistan’s seaside metropolis Karachi, where the country’s first coronavirus case was reported in the last week of February. Photo; March 23, 2020 (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

A deserted look of Zaibnuisah Street, one of the busiest markets in Karachi, a Pakistani megacity where one has died and 354 have infected by the coronavirus (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

A cop stands guard to stop residents from going to Seaview, one the most crowded beaches in Karachi, on March 22, 2020. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

A volunteer helps an older man put on his face mask, a day before the lockdown in Karachi on March 22, 2020. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

Frere Hall, a historic park where thousands visit daily and remain there till late night, is empty on Sunday evening after the Sindh Government’s announcement to go into lockdown for fourteen days in order to control the spread of COVID-19 (AN photo by S.A. Babar)

Railway staff fumigate a train on Sunday, March 22. The Cantt (cantonment) station experienced a huge footfall despite the railways suspending operations for 34 passenger trains due to the lockdown in Karachi. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

People wait for their turn at a utility store in Karachi on Sunday evening, following the government’s announcement to impose a curfew, which will allow only small grocery stores to remain open. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

Railways staff is fumigating a train which is leaving for up country in the evening on Sunday, March 22, 2030. The cantt station of Karachi witnessed large number of people despite the railways suspending operations of 34 trains due to lockdown in Karachi, which will force people to stay at home (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

Karachi Port, Pakistan's busiest seaport wore a deserted look on Sunday evening. (AN Photo)

Small traders and owners of grocery stores are seen here uploading utility items from Karachi’s wholesale market, in the Joria Bazaar, on Sunday, March 22, 2020. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

A woman and her child are screened for coronavirus before their departure from the Cantt railway station on March 22, 2020. “Our village is small, and we will be safe from the virus there, ” Aleena Bhatti told Arab News. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

Seen here is an isolation ward at the Civil Hospital Karachi on March 23, 2020. The Sindh government set up isolation and treatment wards in all major health facilities across the province to curb the spread of the deadly disease. (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

Bagh-e-Jinnah park wore a deserted look on Sunday evening. (AN photo by S.A Babar)

Hamid Ali (left) sits in his small home in Korangi area of Karachi where authorities have imposed a lockdown since Sunday midnight due to coronavirus outbreak. “I am a daily wager and don’t know how will we survive during the curfew,” Ali told Arab News on March 23, 2020 (AN Photo by S.A Babar)

The Jama clothe market of Karachi is closed due to lockdown on Monday, March 22, 2020 (AN Photo by S.A. Babar)

• Karachi placed under a lockdown for two weeks
• Follows Sindh province recording the highest number of infections in the country

KARACHI: Bustling markets, packed malls and food courts, crowded parks, and streets teeming with people and traffic are what defines Pakistan’s most populous city of Karachi – a metropolitan with more than 15 million people. 

However, with nearly 300,000 infections and more than 12,900 coronavirus deaths reported across the world, the outbreak has turned Pakistan’s financial capital into a ghost town, too.

On Sunday, authorities in Sindh province – of which Karachi is the capital – announced a two-week lockdown to limit the spread of the deadly disease which has killed six people in Pakistan thus far.

According to the provincial health authorities, 354 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19, out of which 130 are from Karachi. Of the 130, nearly 83 are cases of local transmission, which authorities say is profoundly worrying.