The authorities in Peshawar have imposed a smart lockdown in the city in an attempt to stem the surging cases of coronavirus infections. A notification in this regard was issued on Wednesday, according to which, the smart lockdown will be in place at 9.00pm tonight in a number of areas of the KP provincial capital. There will a complete ban on entry and exit in these areas as the smart lockdown was reintroduced as per the policy and guidelines of the federal government. The move was aimed at checking the spread of the coronavirus cases which were reported in these Peshawar areas. The pharmacies, general stores, tandoors and emergency services will remain open in these areas. Only five people will be allowed to say collective prayers inside a mosque. According to Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Captain (retd) Khalid Mahmood, the area magistrate and police have been issued directives regarding the smart lockdown. Legal action will be taken against those who will violate the smart lockdown, he added. A notification issued by the Deputy Commissioner office said that on the recommendation of district health officer, smart lockdown would be imposed in street No. 5, Sector E-1, phase 1, Hayatabad and Faisal Colony road, bound by Dalazak road and Gharib abad on Wednesday. According to the notification, the imposition of smart lockdown would start from 21:00 hours on July 14 and remain in force till further orders. Islamabad Government has placed six localities of federal capital under smart lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country. According to the notification, the lockdown has been imposed on Street 15 Block A Media Town, Street 10 Phase 4 Bahria Town, Street 15 River Garden, Street 5 Sector E-7, Street 5 Korang Town and Street 10, Kashmiri Muhallah. Essential services and supplies like pharmacy and medicine shops, groceries store and bakeries, patients for medical aid/consultation, drinking water supplies, utilities and emergency etc. are exempted from the restrictions. On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 24 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 978,847. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 22,642 on Wednesday.