Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Planning Minister Asad Umar has said the government has decided to close indoor restaurants across Pakistan to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Briefing media about decisions taken by the National Coordination Committee, which met in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, he said this ban will not be valid for food stalls operating in open spaces.
He said the NCC also validated decisions taken by the National Command and Operation Centre regarding closure of schools. He said provincial governments have been asked to consult Ulema, requesting them to appeal Namazis to observe Standard Operating Procedures in mosques so that prayers and protection of health can go side by side.
The Minister said in view of increasing intensity and severity of second wave of the pandemic, the government also imposed ban on holding public gatherings. He appealed the political leadership of the country to avoid organizing public rallies to prevent spread of the contagion.
He said Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar has convened a meeting of the parliamentary committee on Covid-19 today and it is hoped that leadership of all the political parties will attend the sitting to evolve a common strategy to contain spread of the virus by desisting from holding mass rallies.
Pakistan on Tuesday reported 48 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel Coronavirus as the number of positive cases surged to 379,883 and tally of fatalities jumped to 7,744.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center, 2,954 persons tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Till now 164,651 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 115,138 in Punjab, 44,932 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 16,846 in Balochistan, 27,555 in Islamabad, 6,203 in Azad Kashmir and 4,558 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Amid rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country, Peshawar’s famous business center Qissa Khwani Bazar was sealed on Tuesday over violation of SOPs.
On the directions of Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali Asghar, Assistant Commissioner Peshawar Dr Ehtesham-ul-Haq sealed more than 300 shops and dozens of wholesale markets in the area.
The situation, however, escalated when a number of shop owners tried to resist the police and reopen their shops. Additional police force had to be called in by the district administration to complete the operation.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has imposed more restrictions to curb the spread of novel coronavirus amid second wave which include mandatory face masks wearing, ban on indoor weddings, and work from home policy among others.
