ISLAMABAD: Following surge in the coronavirus cases countrywide the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has banned indoor weddings events. According to a notification issued on Friday, major cities with "high positivity and higher disease spread potential" have been asked to enforce the ban.
"Only outdoor marriages allowed with upper limit of 1,000 persons," the notification further added. The fresh restrictions will be imposed in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzzafarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar, Quetta, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, and Abbottabad.
The decision will go into effect from November 20, 2020, the notification added. The decision is taken after Pakistan has seen a steady rise in cases in the last six days, with more than 1,000 new infections each day. The country recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases since July 24 in the last 24 hours, when 1,376 cases were reported by the national dashboard.
On July 24, a high of 1,487 was reported, following which a steady decline in cases had been witnessed. Furthermore, from today (Saturday), the NCOC has directed the implementation of a "Gilgit-Baltistan model", whereby face masks must be made compulsory in the aforementioned cities.
In G-B, failure to do so results in a penalty of Rs100 and three masks issued on the spot. Authorities have been advised to issue similar penalties in these locations. Additionally, public and private offices have been told to implement a 50 percent "work from home" policy.
In areas identified as hotspots, relatively broader "smart lockdowns" have also been recommended. Last month, the NCOC said that it had observed wedding halls and indoor restaurants to be "high contributors" to the spread of the contagious disease.
Following the observation, on October 9, the body issued new guidelines for wedding halls, saying that it is officially restricting the number of guests and limiting functions till 10pm. For indoor events, a maximum of 300 guests had been allowed and for outdoor events, a maximum of 500 guests, with the gathering to only last two hours.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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