The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday lifted bans on tourism and outdoor weddings. In addition to this, schools have been allowed to open in areas where the positivity ratio is less than 5 per cent.

The development came after Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar chaired a meeting and Lt General Hamood uz Zaman Khan co-chaired it. SAPM Health, Sindh health minister, and chief secretaries of all federating units attended the session via video link.

Sectors opening from May 21

1.Outdoor Restaurants will be opened daily till 23:59 hours. Takeaways allowed 24/7.

2. Opening of tourism sector under utringent COVID-19 protocols. Separate instructions on protocols being issued to all federating units.

3. Opening of education institutes in districts with less than 5% positivity (Staggered opening)

Sectors opening from June 1 (Subject to review on May 27)

  1. Out door marriage ceremonies with max 150 Individuals will be allowed.

2. Staggered Opening of education sector from 7th June (other than those opened from May 24)

Closures of following to continue till further review

  1. Shrines

2. Cinemas

3. Indoor dining

4. Indoor gyms

5. Amusement Parks (however, walking / jogging tracks will remain open with strict adherence of SOPs)

6. Complete ban on contact sports, festivals, cultural and other events

7. Ban on all types of indoor/outdoor gatherings (cultural,musical/religious / miscellaneous events)

8. Ban on inter provincial public transport for two closed days (Sat / Sun)

COVID-19 claims 104 lives; positivity rate at 7.7pc

Pakistan has reported 104 new coronavirus fatalities– the death toll has risen to 19,856 — amid the third wave of the deadly virus.

This is the second consecutive day that the country reported over 100 deaths.

The NCOC said that during the past 24 hours, 41,771 people were tested for the virus, taking the total number of tests conducted across the country to 12,552,339. Out of these, 3,256 came out positive, taking the number of cases to 886,184 since Feb last year.

In a province-wise breakdown, Sindh has reported 301,247 cases, Punjab 329,913, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 127,609, Islamabad 79,552, Balochistan 24,064, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 18,360, and Gilgit-Baltistan 5,439.

Anas Mallick is an international journalist who has been working as a field reporter for 7+ years now. With a focus on diplomacy, militancy, and conflict, Mallick's expertise involve Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. He tweets at @AnasMallick

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