ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which synergizes government efforts against COVID-19, issued new guidelines on Tuesday, banning public gatherings in cities where the coronavirus positivity rate was over six percent.
“No public gathering to be held in cities where test positivity ratio is consistently higher than 6-9% or above as laid down in instructions,” the NCOC said, adding that rallies and gathering on “ill-defined venues” such as streets and roadsides should be avoided.
“Ensure separate gates for entrance and exit of the visitors to avoid overcrowding,” the NCOC said. “Consideration for multiple entry and exit points is suggested. The overall duration of events should be not more than 3 hours.”
It added: “People with higher risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19 (e.g. with comorbidity of diabetes, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases and elderly people), and children under the age of 12 years should not attend gatherings/event.”
According to a government portal, 320,463 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Pakistan so far, and there have been 6,601 deaths.
In August, the government announced that virtually all sectors in Pakistan shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus would be reopened that month, other than schools and marriage halls, which opened in September. Since then, there has been a slow uptick in infection numbers.
