Despite police being present, 13 travelers escape the quarantine facility in Sialkot

What happened: District Health Officer of Sialkot reported that on the 27th of December, thirteen travelers who arrived in Pakistan from South Africa escaped a quarantine facility. However, it has also been disclosed that the travelers had tested negative for Covid-19 but they had to quarantine. Sialkot’s DHO stated,  “They were required to isolate at a government facility for three days as per new orders from the NCOC.”  Details: At the same time, the DHO disclosed that the passports of the 13 travelers are with the health department and the local police have been dispatched to locate the passengers. The 13 travelers belonged to Mandi Bahauddin, Sargodha, Gujrat, and Lahore. What else:   Covid-19’s new variant Omicron is spreading in Pakistan, as Karachi was the first city to report the case before Islamabad reported it on the 25th of December. However, the first case in Punjab was reported on the 27th of December in Lahore. Whereas, 32 Omicron cases have been reported in Balochistan. At the same time, SAPM on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza had also warned that Omicron variant cases could rise in the upcoming weeks as the variant spreads faster than other variants of Covid-19.