ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday extended the incumbent Covid-19 measures in six cities until February 21, announcing health crisis-related restrictions will continue to be in place in districts with a transmission rate of over 10 percent even as the nation reported the lowest number of daily cases in over a month.
Pakistan recorded 2,597 new cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said, the country’s lowest daily caseload since January 10.
With the new infections, the overall number of Covid-19 infections has risen to 1.48 million in the country, said the NCOC, a department leading the campaign against the pandemic.
After reviewing the latest situation in its daily meeting, the federal body decided to keep the restrictions in place with a three-day rolling average, a notification issued by the NCOC said.
The cities and districts where the restrictions will remain imposed include Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Mardan, Karachi and Hyderabad.
The meeting suspended indoor gatherings of all sorts, including weddings, in the districts with a positivity rate breaching the 10 percent limit, but okayed the presence of up to 300 people in the outdoor events.
It also imposed a blanket ban on indoor dining in the aforementioned cities. However, outdoor dining for fully-vaccinated people and takeaway services were allowed. Restaurants and eateries were also allowed to offer takeaway services throughout the day.
Cinemas and shrines were allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity for fully vaccinated individuals.
The meeting also allowed education activities to continue for those under and over 12 in districts with a positivity rate of up to 50 percent. But the attendance limits, which were previously halved for those under 12, is restored at 100 percent for those over 12 in these districts.
Vaccination for students above 12 years was declared mandatory (at least one jab). No exemption other than medical reasons will be entertained, the NCOC said.
Public buses were allowed to operate with 70 percent of the seating capacity. Wearing masks is declared mandatory throughout the journey, with a complete ban on serving of meals and snacks.
The NCOC said the curbs will be reviewed on February 21 and directed the concerned authorities to notify the extension of the same at priority.
Meanwhile, a total of 3,804 people were reported to have recovered from the pandemic in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1.38 million, showed data from the NCOC.
The number of active cases has dropped to 75,405 in the country, including 1,588 in critical condition.
According to the official data, 27 deaths from Covid-19 were registered on Monday, taking the death toll to 29,828.
Sindh is the worst-hit province with 560,036 infections recorded, followed by Punjab, which has reported 496,134 cases so far.
