Karachi (Web Desk): The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday announced to lift Covid-19 lockdown in Sindh from August 9.
According to details, a statement was issued following a meeting of the NCOC which was chaired by Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar and attended by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, Gen Hamood and other team members.
"The disease situation in Sindh, particularly in Karachi, was discussed at length. The need for better coordination and enhanced interaction at all levels was emphasised," the statement said.
The forum decided that Sindh would follow the non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI)- based guidelines the forum had announced for 13 high infection rate cities earlier this week, which include Karachi and Hyderabad.
The matter of the reopening of Sindh's schools and leftover exams will be discussed in the upcoming meeting of the Inter Provincial Education Ministerial Conference (IPEMC).
The NCOC also recognised the need for a special emphasis on the implementation of safety precautions in view of Muharram and when the lockdown is lifted on August 9.
The meeting decided that "smart lockdowns" in high disease prevalence areas will be enforced to curb the spread of the virus.
On August 2, the NCOC announced certain restrictions for the major cities having high positivity rate of COVID-19.
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.
On the other hand, Pakistan recorded 95 deaths from coronavirus over the last 24 hours, the highest single-day toll during the ongoing fourth wave of the pandemic.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 1,063,125 on Saturday after 4,720 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 23,797.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 959,491 after another 4,780 virus recoveries were reported.