KARACHI: Hours after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) advised the provinces to reimpose restrictions of targeted areas to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Sindh government on Monday ordered the closure of all markets at 10:00 pm and re-enforced the 50 per cent attendance at workplace policy.
The government portal keeping track of the outbreak in Pakistan on Monday reported 2,253 new infections of the coronavirus after conducting 44,061 tests, receiving back a positivity rate of 5.11 per cent.
In its meeting, the NCOC asked the provincial authorities to adopt strict measures against the people flouting standard operating procedures (SOPs) designed to curtail the spread of the contagious disease.
Following the meeting, the provincial health department issued a notification announcing the closure of shrines, early closure of amusement parks, and other stringent measures such as suspension of indoor weddings and dining until April 15.
“In pursuance of the directions of NCOC […] Sindh [government] is pleased to re-direct as under with immediate elect and till 15th April 2021 unless changed or amended earlier,” the notification read.
The notification said businesses — including markets, shopping malls, marriage halls — will function between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm. However, essential services such as medical stores, hospitals as well as petrol pumps, bakeries, and milk shops will remain open round the clock.
“There would be no indoor dining at the restaurants and only outdoor dining and takeaway would be allowed,” the notification read.
All amusement parks would be closed by 6:00 pm whereas all indoor facilities would also remain closed to the public.
Indoor weddings will not take place any more. Only outdoor gatherings and weddings would be allowed with an upper limit of 300 guests with defined health guidelines.
“Marques with defined modification for ventilations whereas no buffet service is allowed,” the notification added.
Work from the home policy would be implemented whereas 50 percent of staff in attendance would be allowed in all public and private offices.
Respective commissioners and deputy commissioners are empowered to impose smart quarantines “as necessary based on disease hotspots” or “as deemed appropriate” under the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, 2014, it said.
Seperately, while speaking to a news channel, provincial Minister for Education Saeed Ghani announced that educational institutions will remain open during the period.
He further announced the authorities had taken action after the emergence of positive cases in education institutes.
During the second wave, 141 schools and four colleges were closed down after they reported positive Covid-19 cases, he said.
However, the government will reissue instructions to the administrations for strict compliance with the health guidelines, said the minister.
The minister warned that the education centre will be immediately sealed even if a single coronavirus case reported from there. He clarified that the Sindh government has not yet taken any decision to shut educational institutions.
Despite passing through two waves of the pandemic, the government has yet to fully utilise its testing capacity of 61,177, with daily testing remains significantly below numbers proposed by global health experts.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the country’s testing policies only record the most symptomatic patients, while ignoring the spread among asymptomatic carriers, which studies suggest comprise the majority of infections nationwide.
