By: AswathyP
Pakistan on Thursday announced to reopen almost all economic and social sectors shut down as part of the COVID-19 measures to prevent the spread of the virus by next month.
The decision was announced after a key meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Representatives from all the provinces, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan attended the meeting.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar told the media that the reopening would begin from Saturday when restriction on tourism would be lifted, followed by the reopening of hospitality and recreational sectors from next week.
“Restaurants and cafes, outdoor and indoor, will be allowed to open from Monday… when it comes to the recreational sector, which includes public parks, theatres, cinemas, amusement parks and arcades … these will also be allowed to open from Monday,” he said.
Umar said that standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be finalised in the next two to three days.
He said the relaxation is also given to business centres, expo centres and beauty parlours.
Umar said that sporting events would also be allowed from Monday but only non-physical contact games would be allowed. Indoor gyms and sport clubs would also be allowed to operate.
The minister said that educational institutions would open from September 15, but before that a final review of the situation will be made on September 7.
Marriage halls will also be reopened from September 15.
“The threat has not gone away but the situation has improved because the government formulated a clear strategy which was implemented by the administrative machinery,” he said.
Several other sectors like construction industry, retail sector, pharmaceutical, poultry etc were already open in the country.
Pakistan has reported 727 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the country to 2,81,863, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The Ministry of National Health Services said the country has reported 6,035 deaths so far due to the infection.
“Another 727 new patients were identified in the last 24 hours while 21 more patients died in this period due to the coronavirus,” the minister said in a statement.
