Coronavirus: NCOC decides to further tighten restrictions
Coronavirus: NCOC decides to further tighten restrictions
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has decided to tighten restrictions in view of the third wave of coronavirus across the country.
This was decided in today’s meeting of the NCOC in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar. The meeting was virtually attended by the Chief Secretaries of the four provinces.
Expressing concern over the deteriorating situation of coronavirus across Pakistan, the meeting agreed to toughen up SOP implementation in all districts and pledged to stop the spread of the virus at all costs.
To this end, the NCOC has disallowed movement of citizens except in emergencies and directed that business activities will be closed after 8pm, adding that businesses will remain completely closed for 2 days in a week.
It was decided that the two days during which businesses will remain closed will be determined by the provincial governments themselves.
Eating indoors in hotels and restaurants will remain banned while outdoor dining will be allowed till 10 pm. Delivery and take-away services however will continue.
In addition, the decision to allow the gathering of 300 people has been made conditional to the implementation of SOPs and wedding ceremonies inside marriage halls have been banned. Cinemas and mausoleums will also remain closed.
In a tweet on Monday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said, “In the NCOC meeting this morning, we decided to increase restrictions of activities contributing to sharp increase in covid positivity.”
“The provincial and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administrations were also directed to tighten implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and crackdown on violations which are taking place,” he added.
