Businesses closed after 10 PM in 11 cities
Markets, wedding halls and restaurants will remain closed after 10 PM, while public parks and amusement parks will be closed to the public after 6 PM in eleven virus-hit metropolises, announced the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) on Wednesday.
The restrictions were imposed in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad and Mirpur, which according to the body were reporting 80% of new COVID-19 cases. However, essential services such as medicines and groceries will be exempted from this rule.
Wearing masks in public spaces will be mandatory, and those disregarding this will be fined Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 35,000 and imprisonment for six months. The restrictions will come into effect after Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi. At present 4,374 lockdowns are imposed with 30,610 people under lockdown, NCOC revealed.
40 businesses sealed in Lahore
35 shops and five restaurants in Lahore were sealed after found to be violating standard operating procedures (SOPs) as part of the government’s move to control the second coronavirus wave. Twenty shops in Raiwind, eleven in Model Town, and four shops and five restaurants in Cantonment were shut down by the authorities.
6 public schools in Malir sealed
Six government schools in Malir district, Karachi, were sealed after the principles of these schools were found to have been infected with COVID-19 via random sampling. The rooms and facilities used by these individuals have been closed for five days for disinfection while students and staff members who used these rooms and came into contact with the infected persons have been asked to quarantine.
The sealed schools are the Government Boys Higher Secondary and the Girls Lower Secondary Schools in Konkar; the Government Girls Secondary School Haji Saeen Rakhio Campus; the Government Boys Secondary School in Jan Muhammad Ahmedani; the Government Boys Secondary School Model Haqqani Campus; and the Government Boys Secondary School in Radho Jokhio.