Residents of Lahore’s Imamia Colony claim that the area has been sealed off by the police amid “a massive increase in the COVID-19 cases” as authorities told them to not leave their houses; however, both the government and police deny doing so.

Reports quoted locals as saying that amid an increasing number of coronavirus cases in Punjab, especially Lahore, the government had put the residential area in the provincial capital under lockdown. They claimed that a fatality was also reported in the locality and the health department was “downplaying the situation”.

The government, they said, had failed to screen people returning from Iran which led to the outbreak in the colony.

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“The health department is hiding the actual number of the cases,” the residents claimed, urging higher-ups to take notice of the cases.

According to an audio clip viral on social media, a purported sub-inspector stationed at Shahdara Police Station could be heard telling someone to stay away from Imamia Colony due to a higher number of cases there. As per the clip, a patient also died of the virus and at least 80 per cent were infected in the colony.

Shahdara Police denied this and said they didn’t seal the area, whereas the health secretary and his spokesperson remained unavailable despite many calls.

Punjab government spokesperson Mussarat Jamsheed said it was all rumours. “All the areas are under observation and we are not hiding anything from the public,” the official said while asking people not to panic.