Pakistan bans meals, snacks on flights from Monday amid rising coronavirus cases

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has banned meals and snacks on flights from January 10, it said on Saturday, amid a surge in the number of coronavirus infections. 
The South Asian nation on Saturday reported 4,286 new coronavirus infections, its highest caseload since the end of August, as a fifth COVID-19 wave sweeps the country, driven by the highly transmissible omicron strain of the virus. 
The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees Pakistan’s pandemic response, met on Saturday to discuss the disease prevalence and proposed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the wake of rising number of infections, especially in urban centers. 
“Amid rising trend of disease across the country, detailed stock of the disease situation and currently enforced NPIs was carried out at NCOC,” the CAA said in a notification. 
“Accordingly, forum decided to impose ban on serving of meals/snacks in domestic air travel and public transport with effect from 17 January [20]22.” 
The CAA directed officials to ensure dissemination of the new directives on priority. 
The last time Pakistan reported over 4,200 new cases was on August 25, 2021, when 4,467 people tested positive for the virus in a single day. 
The omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November, with the first known case in Pakistan identified last month in a woman who had no travel history outside the country. 
The NCOC asked all federating units to take strict measures against those violating government-proposed precautionary measures, including wearing masks and maintaining a safe social distance at public places. It asked authorities to ensure strict enforcement of obligatory vaccination regime and existing NPIs. 
The pandemic response body also asked provinces to carry out immediate surveys of health care facilities, fast-track vaccination drive and ramp up efforts to achieve vaccination targets.