https://arab.news/766rd
- Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity rate has dropped from 14 percent two weeks ago to 7.79 percent
- Mass COVID-19 vaccination center opens in Islamabad where 7,000 people can get jabs daily
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is going to further relax coronavirus restrictions from May 24, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), a federal body overseeing pandemic response said on Wednesday, as the country’s coronavirus positivity rate is decreasing and its vaccination drive is picking up pace.
To curb the spread of coronavirus, the government had imposed a nationwide lockdown from May 8 to 16, including a ban on intercity public transport during the Eid Al-Fitr holidays.
Throughout the past two weeks, Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity rate has dropped from 14 percent two weeks ago to 7.79 percent in the past 24 hours, according to NCOC data.
While from Sunday public transport services resumed in all provinces, inter-provincial public transport would resume from May 22, except for Saturdays and Sundays.
The government has already allowed from Monday resumption of office work at 50 percent capacity and market activity until 8 p.m.
From May 24, educational institutions will reopen in districts where the COVID-19 positivity rate is below 5 percent, NCOC said in a statement outlining the new rules. All matric and intermediate exams will be held after June 20.
Outdoor restaurants will resume operations until midnight, while tourism activity will return under strict health protocols.
Elective surgeries in public hospitals will resume from June 1.
While outdoor marriage ceremonies with maximum 150 participants will be allowed from June 1, mass indoor and outdoor gatherings, including cultural, musical and religious events, remain banned, with shrines, cinemas, indoor restaurants, indoor gyms and amusement parks closed until further review.
“A critical monitoring of disease prevalence and critical health care system is being carried out on daily basis, and necessary steps will be taken accordingly, whenever deem appropriate to control the disease spread,” the NCOC said.
As the government aims to vaccinate at least 70 million of the country’s 220 million population by the end of this year, it opened on Wednesday a mass COVID-19 vaccination center in Islamabad, where over 7,000 people will be able to get their jabs every day.
“We are trying our best to achieve our vaccination target, and we will be able to lift all the restrictions only after our maximum population is vaccinated,” Planning Minister Asad Umar, who heads the NCOC, said while inaugurating the vaccination center.
“We are trying our best to achieve our vaccination target,” he said, adding that all the restrictions will be lifted only when a majority of the population is vaccinated.
“Vaccination is safe and no serious side effects have been recorded so far. Sufficient vaccine supply is available.”
The country has so far administered 4.6 million vaccine doses to persons above the age of 40.