Shopping malls, hotels, cinema halls reopen as lockdown ends

Shopping malls and markets will remain open throughout the week

LAHORE (Dunya News) - Following the announcement of lifting lockdown by the federal government, the shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, gyms, theatres, cinema halls, beauty parlors across the country have been reopened today (Monday) with the implementation of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) issued in wake of coronavirus.

According to details, shopping malls and markets will remain open throughout the week while ban on pillion riding has also been lifted. All sports and games except Kabaddi, wrestling and rugby have also been resumed but without spectators.

The public transport has been restored across the country but the passengers are not allowed to travel by standing in the metro buses.

Beauty parlors, exhibition centres, and shrines have also been allowed to open but taking permission from the administration before holding public events has been made compulsory.

Coronavirus situation in Pakistan

On the other, Pakistan has reported 15 deaths in last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 284,660. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,097.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 539 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

Till now 123,849 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 94,477 in Punjab, 34,692 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 15,261 in Islamabad, 11,906 in Balochistan, 2,141 in Azad Kashmir and 2,334 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore 2,272 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Sindh, 2,170 in Punjab, 1,231 in KP, 138 in Balochistan, 171 in Islamabad, 57 in GB and 58 in Azad Kashmir.

Pakistan has so far conducted 2,147,584 coronavirus tests and 20,495 in last 24 hours. 260,764 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 776 patients are in critical condition.

Asad Umar chairs NCC meeting

Earlier, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar during a briefing in the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting said the COVID-19 pandemic had been controlled to a great extent due to the effective strategy of the government institutions, untiring efforts of doctors and paramedical staff and cooperation of the people.

He said the NCC had decided that all the educational institutions would be opened on September 15 after a final review by the Ministry of Education on 7th September. He said the people of Pakistan were the real heroes in defeating the pandemic, as they strictly followed the SOPs to check the spread of the pandemic.

The minister said the strategy of a smart lockdown adopted by Pakistan was appreciated by the other countries and they were also learning from its experience.