Pakistan relaxes virus restrictions, to reopen schools from September 16

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday decided to reopen education institutes across the country from September 16 after the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees Pakistan’s pandemic response, reviewed the COVID-19 situation in a meeting, said an official notification.
Earlier this month, the NCOC announced strict restrictions for 24 districts where the coronavirus positivity ratio was considered alarmingly high.
Its members not only reduced the number of these districts to five during the recent meeting but also relaxed some of the restrictions previously imposed in these vulnerable areas.
“All types of education institutes countrywide will follow staggered opening (50 percent attendance, 3 x days a week) from 16th September, 21, onwards,” the notification said.
The decision was made after a “detailed stock of the disease situation in the country, daily hospital admissions and critical care occupancy vis-a-vis requirement of oxygen was carried out.”
The NCOC named Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha and Gujrat in Punjab and Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as high disease prevalence districts.
According to the notification, market and business activities will only be allowed in these five districts until 8pm, though they will be permitted until 10pm in other parts of the country.
Traders in the vulnerable districts will also be required to shut down their shops on Friday and Saturday, instead of one day a week elsewhere.
The NCOC has continued to maintain strict restrictions on indoor dining, weddings and other gatherings in the five districts.
All religious shrines will also continue to remain closed in these cities.
Pakistan recorded 2,580 new coronavirus cases and 78 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The country began its immunization campaign in last February and has so far fully vaccinated about 21.96 million people.