Businesses in Sindh have been allowed to remain open till 8pm instead of 6pm, however, it is now mandatory for the staff of all shops and markets to be vaccinated against coronavirus.
In a meeting of the provincial task force on Covid-19, which was held with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in the chair, it was decided that educational institutions for grade nine and above would open from Monday.
“The vaccination certificates of shops’ staff will be checked after 15 days,” a statement quoted the chief minister as saying.
It is worth mentioning here that this directive follows Karachi’s trade-related associations’ decision to defy the provincial government’s restrictions regarding opening of markets and shops beyond 6pm and announced that they would open all their businesses till 8pm from Saturday.
Sunday’s Covid task force meeting also decided that restaurants would be allowed to remain open for outdoor dining until midnight while ensuring social distancing between diners.
Marriage halls and outdoor weddings will be allowed after two weeks, while beauty salons will also be allowed to reopen with SOPs.
The meeting also gave the green light to reopen Sea View and other beaches.
The meeting was informed that the positivity rate in Karachi on June 5 was 8.5 percent, while it was 12.45pc on June 1. The positivity in Hyderabad on June 5 was 11.06pc.
It was told that there were currently 79 patients on ventilators in Karachi and two in Shaheed Benazirabad.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Murad gave the target to the provincial health department to vaccinate 18 million people within the next three months.
Earlier in the day, Murad announced that all teaching and non-teaching staff at educational institutions would have to be vaccinated if schools were to reopen.
He said all shopkeepers would also have to get vaccinated and keep proofs of their vaccination at their shops.
Murad made these announcements at the inauguration ceremony of a Covid-19 vaccination facility at the Expo Centre in Karachi.
The announcements came in the wake of Sindh reporting 722 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths. The total number of cases in the province now stands at 323,072 and the death toll has risen to 5,116.
Earlier this week, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho had said schools in the province would remain closed until the government was certain that coronavirus cases were on the decline.
“This is a numbers game. We have to proceed with caution until the numbers improve and don’t want to risk the lives of our children, their parents and relatives,” she maintained.
On May 19, the National Command and Operation Centre had allowed the staggered reopening of educational institutions from May 24 in districts where the positivity rate was less than five per cent.
Speaking about vaccination today, Chief Minister Murad said around 15,000 people would be inoculated at the newly inaugurated vaccination facility.
“We want to vaccinate as many people as possible,” he added, announcing that his government would be opening more vaccination centres in the province.
Stressing the importance of vaccination, Shah said, “We are now among countries that are on the [Covid-19 travel] red list.”
He said 70 per cent of Sindh Police personnel had been vaccinated and the provincial government had issued instructions for administering the first dose of vaccine to government employees in June.
Murad once again warned that government employees refusing to be vaccinated would not be paid their salaries from July, and recommended that businesses in the private sector should also introduce such conditions for their employees.
The chief minister lauded frontline health workers on the occasion and appealed to citizens to cooperate with the authorities so that Covid-19 could be controlled as soon as possible.
KEY DECISIONS:
Shops and markets to remain open till 8pm
Schools to reopen for grades 9 and above
Outdoor dining allowed till midnight
Marriage halls and outdoor weddings to be allowed after two weeks
Sea View and other beaches to be reopened
