-All the indoor, outdoor gatherings, except for outdoor wedding events, banned in Islamabad
-Intercity public transport restricted in cities having high coronavirus positivity ratio
-Punjab closes schools again amid rising COVID cases
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre has decided to impose a new set of restrictions in the federal capital from September 4 till September 12 in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The NCOC meeting, headed by Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, gave a briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan about the new restrictions.
According to the NCOC, all indoor and outdoor gatherings and events have been banned in the city. However, only outdoor wedding events are allowed to be organised with a maximum of 300 guests. In addition to this, intercity public transport has been restricted in the cities having a high percentage of coronavirus cases. Indoor gyms will also remain closed.
Meanwhile, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat announced that the increasing COVID-19 cases have increased the pressure on hospitals, therefore, new restrictions had to be imposed. The DC took to Twitter to announce the enforcement of restrictions in Islamabad that begin from September 4 and will remain in place till September 12, 2021.
To follow the same approach of imposing restrictions, the provincial government of Punjab has decided to close schools again from Monday for six days due to the worsening situation of coronavirus, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas announced on Twitter Friday.
“All Public & Private Schools of Punjab to be closed from September 6th to September 11th, 2021 due to COVID 19 conditions,” the minister tweeted. Murad Raas urged everyone to adhere to COVID-19 SOPs. “Please stay home and stay safe. Protect yourself and your families,” he wrote.
The educational institutes in Punjab were opened in August following summer vacations after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) okayed the resumption of in-person classes.According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, 1,368 cases were detected Friday after 22,549 tests were conducted.
The number of active cases in Punjab stands at 24,650, with a 6.1% positivity ratio while Lahore reported a positivity rate of 9%, Rawalpindi 9.9%, Multan 3.4%, Faisalabad 5.5% and Jhang 22.9%.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s COVID-19 graph has been showing a declining trend as the country has mostly been recording less than 4,000 daily infections all of this week. The South Asian country registered 3,787 more coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours after 59,745 tests were taken, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,171,578, the NCOC’s data showed Friday morning.
