KARACHI: Sindh government on Monday allowed the resumption of business activities in the province for six days a week, following the National Command and Operation Centre decision in this regard.
The decision was made in the meeting of the Sindh Covid-19 Task Force, headed by Chief Minister Murad Ali Ali Shah.
“The business closure will be ensured as per the decision of the NCOC,” the chief minister said adding that the businesses will remain close on Sunday in the province while allowed to continue their activities for six days in a week as per the Covid standard operating procedures.
The chief minister also took notice of the report regarding the issuance of vaccine certificate without the immunisation process and directed the Sindh inspector general and home department to take strict action against the concerned person.
“No negligence and corruption will be tolerated during Covid vaccination drive,” he said.
The task force meeting also made it mandatory for people acquiring driving licenses to get themselves vaccinated before getting hold of the document.
He further shared that the Covid positivity ratio has declined to 4.5 percent in the province with Karachi reporting a positivity ratio of 9.5 percent, followed by 5.65 percent in Hyderabad.
“The pressure on hospitals is releasing now,” Murad Ali Shah said.
“We have tested 37105 passengers at Karachi airport on June 12 and 80 of them tested positive for the virus,” Murad Ali Shah said, adding that so far 50 passengers who had tested positive during screening at Karachi airport have recovered.
Moreover, the Sindh government has decided to allow on-campus academic activities of classes six to eight with a 50 percent attendance at a time from Tuesday, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said.
Taking to Twitter after a meeting of the Covid Task Force headed by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Saeed Ghani said that the classes of sixth to eighth grade would resume from Tuesday, and in case of further improvement in Covid situation, the primary classes will begin from June 21.
He, however, said that the entire staff of the school had to get themselves vaccinated before the resumption of classes.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Sindh government announced to reopen educational institutions for classes nine and above from June 7 with strict observance of SOPs.
“Sindh Corona Task Force has decided to reopen educational institutions of Sindh for class 9th and above from 7th June (Tuesday) with strict SOPs. All staff must be get vaccinated,” Saeed Ghani tweeted.
The announcement came after the NCOC allowed the reopening of all educational institutes in districts with a low positivity ratio of Covid-19 cases from June 7.
