NCOC bans indoor dining and weddings for cities with Covid positivity rate over 10pc

After a brief delay, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) finally issued Wednesday revised coronavirus guidelines and SOPs for the education, restaurant, entertainment, and other sectors as Pakistan continues its battle against a fifth wave of the pandemic and struggles to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

In cities and districts with positivity higher than 10%, the classes for children under 12 years will continue on "staggered" days, while classes will be conducted daily for fully-vaccinated students above 12 years of age.

In the cities and districts which have a positivity ratio of up to 10%, classes will continue as usual, but with stringent COVID-19 protocols intact, as per NCOC's guidelines.

With effect from February 1, at least one dose for students above 12 years will be mandatory and no exemption other than medical reasons will be entertained, the NCOC guidelines stated.

"Aggressive sentinel testing in educational institutions will be carried out for targeted closures in high disease prevalence education institutes," the NCOC said.

Federating units in consultations with health authorities will set a number of cases or infection rate as the benchmark for closure of education institutes, the forum stated.

The decisions were taken during an NCOC session held today in Islamabad with Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in the chair, a statement from the forum said.

The forum took a "detailed review" of the current trend of the pandemic in the country and after a "deliberate and consultative process", it has agreed upon the following non-pharmaceutical interventions:

For cities/ districts with positivity above 10%:

Gatherings/Weddings:

Indoor gatherings of all types, including weddings, will be banned from January 24.

Outdoor gatherings, including weddings, will be allowed with a cap of fully vaccinated 300 guests — applicable from Jan 24.

Dinning

There will be a complete ban on indoor dining. However, outdoor dining for fully vaccinated citizens and takeaway service will be allowed.

Gyms

Indoor Gyms at 50% capacity for fully vaccinated individuals will be allowed.

Cinemas

Cinemas will be allowed to open at 50% capacity for fully vaccinated individuals only.

Shrines

Shrines are allowed to open at 50% capacity for fully vaccinated individuals only.

Amusement Parks

Allowed to open at 50% capacity for fully vaccinated people only.

Sports

There would be a complete ban on contact sports like karate, boxing, martial arts, water polo, kabaddi and wrestling.

Education sector

Schools will be allowed to open with 50% attendance (staggered days) for students below the age of 12 years. For students (fully vaccinated) over 12 years, the NCOC has recommended 100% attendance.

Cities with less than 10%

Gatherings/weddings

Indoor gatherings are allowed with a maximum limit of 300 guests (fully vaccinated), while outdoor events can be held with a maximum limit of 500 guests.

Dining

Indoor and outdoor dining is permitted for fully vaccinated individuals only, while takeaways are allowed 24/7.

Gyms

Indoor gyms are open for fully vaccinated individuals only.

Shrines

Open for fully vaccinated individuals only.

Parks

Open for fully vaccinated individuals only.

Sports

All types of sports are allowed for vaccinated individuals.

Education

Children will continue to attend schools with strict SOPs, while those above 12-years of age must have to be fully vaccinated.

Restrictions imposed across Pakistan

Business timings

Businesses will continue without time restrictions

Public transport

Public buses will be allowed to operate with 70% of their seating capacity. Wearing masks will be mandatory throughout the journey, with a complete ban on serving meals/snacks. Restrictions will come into force from January 20.

Railways

Railways will operate with 80% occupancy level from January 24.

Office Routine

Offices will be allowed to operate at 100% capacity with normal working hours. However, work from home is encouraged.

Domestic Air travel /meals

There will be a complete ban on meal/beverages serving during the in-flight journey for domestic travel.

Education sector

With effect from February 2022 vaccination for students above 12 years will be mandatory (at least one dose). No exemption other than medical reasons will be entertained.

Aggressive sentinel testing in educational institutions will be carried out for targeted closures in high disease prevalence education institutes.
Federating units in consultations with health authorities will set a number/percentage for closure of education institutes.

Mask wearing

Compliance to compulsory mask wearing while incorporating innovative measures for enforcement. Strict adherence to SOPs in mosques and other places of worship be ensured by all federating units.

Extended lockdowns

Targeted lockdown with stringent enforcement protocols based on risk assessment will continue.

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Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif tests positive for coronavirus again

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif has tested positive for coronavirus again, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed Wednesday, as the country battles a fifth wave of the pandemic.

News of Shahbaz testing positive comes as active coronavirus cases in Pakistan shot up from 39,881 to 44,717 in the last 24 hours, the highest since October 6, according to official figures released Wednesday morning.

The PML-N president, a cancer survivor, who had last tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020, is now isolating at home and resting as per his doctor's advice, Aurangzeb said in a statement.

"Shahbaz Sharif has asked the masses and PML-N workers to pray for his health," she added.

In recent days, President Arif Alvi and Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood had tested positive for coronavirus again as well. The president has recovered from the virus six days after testing positive.

Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, the director-general of health, had warned that coronavirus infections in Pakistan are doubling every week on average and could strain the country’s healthcare system in two weeks’ time.

In the last 24 hours. the country registered a positivity ratio at 9.48% as 5,472 new cases were detected after 57,669 tests were conducted, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the forum leading Pakistan's COVID response.

Eight new deaths pushed the death toll to 29,037, while new infections have taken the caseload to 1.34 million, the NCOC's data showed.

he Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), meanwhile, has expressed concerns regarding the worsening coronavirus situation in the country.

The medical body, in a statement Tuesday, demanded the government immediately impose a ban on political rallies, sit-ins, and other public gatherings.

The association also warned of further aggravation of the coronavirus situation across the country in the next two to three weeks and said that there is a risk that the Omicron variant could become more deadly.

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Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif tests positive for coronavirus again

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif has tested positive for coronavirus again, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed Wednesday, as the country battles a fifth wave of the pandemic.

News of Shahbaz testing positive comes as active coronavirus cases in Pakistan shot up from 39,881 to 44,717 in the last 24 hours, the highest since October 6, according to official figures released Wednesday morning.

The PML-N president, a cancer survivor, who had last tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020, is now isolating at home and resting as per his doctor's advice, Aurangzeb said in a statement.

"Shahbaz Sharif has asked the masses and PML-N workers to pray for his health," she added.

In recent days, President Arif Alvi and Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood had tested positive for coronavirus again as well. The president has recovered from the virus six days after testing positive.

Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, the director-general of health, had warned that coronavirus infections in Pakistan are doubling every week on average and could strain the country’s healthcare system in two weeks’ time.

In the last 24 hours. the country registered a positivity ratio at 9.48% as 5,472 new cases were detected after 57,669 tests were conducted, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the forum leading Pakistan's COVID response.

Eight new deaths pushed the death toll to 29,037, while new infections have taken the caseload to 1.34 million, the NCOC's data showed.

he Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), meanwhile, has expressed concerns regarding the worsening coronavirus situation in the country.

The medical body, in a statement Tuesday, demanded the government immediately impose a ban on political rallies, sit-ins, and other public gatherings.

The association also warned of further aggravation of the coronavirus situation across the country in the next two to three weeks and said that there is a risk that the Omicron variant could become more deadly.

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Pakistan records 8 more corona deaths in a day

Pakistan has reported 8 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,338,993. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 29,037 on Wednesday.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 5,472 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Till now 13,091 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 7,709 in Sindh 5,965 in KP, 969 in Islamabad, 749 in Azad Kashmir, 367 in Balochistan, and 187 in GB.

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Pakistan records 8 more corona deaths in a day

Pakistan has reported 8 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,338,993. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 29,037 on Wednesday.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 5,472 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Till now 13,091 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 7,709 in Sindh 5,965 in KP, 969 in Islamabad, 749 in Azad Kashmir, 367 in Balochistan, and 187 in GB.

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Performance of the Govt is very poor: Maryam Nawaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday said that ouster of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is just a matter of days.

Talking to media, Maryam Nawaz said that Mian Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan soon but the time of his arrival will only be decided by PML-N.

Criticizing the government, she said that the performance of the government is very poor and even the federal cabinet members are speaking about this incompetence.

Maryam Nawaz said that people lost their lives due to government’s incompetence in Murree and now people can no longer tolerate this government even for even a day.

Talking about claims of PTI that four leaders of PML-N talked about removing Nawaz Sharif from leadership of the party, Maryam Nawaz said that PML-N is still intact despite repeated trials and hardships.

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Local bodies polls in federal capital to be held on April 15

Local government elections will be held on April 15 in federal capital through electronic voting machines (EVMs).

According to details, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked the federal government to provide 3900 electronic voting machines for the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the concerned officials to provide the machines to ECP.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz has also assured that the commission will be provided the machines before the election.

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