ISLAMABAD: Authorities on Friday made face masks mandatory for the residents of Karachi, Pakistan's most densely populated seaside metropolis, to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus, announced an official statement.
Commissioner Iftikhar Shalwani instructed his subordinates to encourage the residents of the city to cover their faces in public. He also directed them to act against those individuals who violate the instruction by imposing a penalty of up to Rs.500 (US$3.13).
"Make sure that shopkeepers and markets are following the SOPs [standard operating procedures]," Shalwani said, referring to the officially prescribed safety measures to deal with the pandemic.
"Shopkeepers must cover their faces and not let customers enter their outlets without fallther restrictions as new coronavirus infections have surged across the country, with 1,376 new cases and 30 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, according to a government portal.
Apart from Karachi, Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, also made face masks mandatory in all indoor and outdoor places and on transportation services. All bazaars, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, bakeries, wedding halls, beauty parlors and barbershops have been ordered to close shop at 10pm and amusement parks at 6pm.
The southern Sindh province reported 556 cases and 17 deaths on Thursday, its highest daily totals since July 29, when the province registered 654 cases.
Sindh’s case tally now stands at 148,343, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said in a statement.
The province also recorded 17 deaths in the past 24 hours, a three-month record. The provincial death toll has risen to 2,664.
Despite the rising cases, Pakistan’s federal and provincial administrations on Thursday decided not to close education institutes.
“All provincial education authorities, head of education boards and other participants reached a consensus decision that there was no need to close education institutes under the present circumstances. Therefore, education institutes will continue to remain open,” the federal education ministry said in a Twitter post on Thursday.
Last week, Pakistan’s de facto health minister, Dr. Faisal Sultan, announced that the second wave of coronavirus had arrived and new restrictions and lockdowns were “inevitable.”
Prime Minister Khan has repeatedly said the country would need to learn to “live with” the virus to avert pushing tens of millions living on daily wages into destitution.
Pakistan began to lift its lockdown, imposed in March, on May 9, about two weeks before the Eid Al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and is celebrated with congregation prayers, family gatherings and feasting. Transport and most businesses reopened but cinemas, theaters and schools remain closed.
In August, the government announced that virtually all sectors shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus would be reopened that month, other than schools and marriage halls, which opened in September. There has been an uptick in infection numbers since.
Karachi makes face masks mandatory as coronavirus cases surge in Pakistan
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Karachi makes face masks mandatory as coronavirus cases surge in Pakistan
- People violating officially prescribed safety measures to prevent further infections could be fined up to Rs.500
- Similar restrictions are gradually imposed in other major cities as the second wave of the virus sweeps the country
Pakistan president in Bahrain to boost trade, defense and security ties
- Asif Ali Zardari will meet Bahrain’s king and crown prince, discuss regional issues of mutual interest
- Trade volume between Pakistan and Bahrain has increased from $500 million to $1 billion in recent years
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Bahrain late Tuesday on a four-day visit to enhance bilateral cooperation in trade, defense and security, Pakistani state media reported.
Pakistan and Bahrain have maintained close diplomatic, trade, investment and defense relations and have lately been focusing on strengthening their cooperation in key economic sectors.
The Pakistan president’s visit will be focused on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest for both nations, according to the foreign office in Islamabad.
He will hold talks with King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad, and address a reception held at the headquarters of the Economic Development Board in Manama.
“The visit seeks to reinforce Pakistan’s longstanding cooperation with the brotherly Gulf nation while expanding opportunities for collaboration in trade and economic partnership, defense and security and people-to-people ties,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster said.
Islamabad and Manama established diplomatic ties in 1971. In recent years, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries has ranged between $500 million to around $1 billion, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Major exports from Pakistan to Bahrain include meat, vegetables, rice, tobacco and textile. Imports from Bahrain, on the other hand, include petroleum products, ferrous wastes and scrape and aluminum.
Both have established a Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) at the level of foreign ministers to discuss trade and economic ties, take decisions mutually and supervise the implementation of these decisions. So far, only two sessions of the JMC have been held and the last one was held in Bahrain in July 2021.
Zardari’s visit takes place amid increasing economic engagement between the two nations following the Pakistan-Bahrain Investment Summit in May 2025. Both sides signed contracts worth $13 million during the summit.
