Islamabad (Web Desk): The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday announced certain restrictions for the major cities having high positivity rate of COVID-19.
Addressing a news conference along with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC said that the new coronavirus restrictions will come into effect from August 3 and will remain in place until August 31.
The major cities, where the new restrictions will be imposed, include Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan; Peshawar and Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, restrictions will be imposed in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur, while in Gilgit-Baltistan, the new rules will apply to Gilgit and Skardu.
The new restrictions come after the Sindh government announced a province-wide partial lockdown on Friday from July 31 to August 8 due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
As per the new restrictions announced by the NCOC, all commercial activities will be suspended by 8pm instead of 10 pm.
Indoor dining will remain banned while the outdoor dining will be allowed until 10pm instead of 12am.
The takeaway and home-delivery services from restaurants will be allowed 24 hours a day.
The NCOC chief announced that public transport will operate on a 50% capacity to avoid crowding inside vehicles.
He added that shops and markets will remain closed twice a week, whereas the provincial governments will decide about the safe days.
The minister said that the offices will continue to operate on a 50% capacity and appealed to the masses to get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible.
