NCOC allows reopening of schools, outdoor dining from May 24

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Wednesday allowed the reopening of schools and colleges from May 24 in areas where the coronavirus prevalence ratio is less than five percent.

This was decided during a meeting that took place today with Federal Minister for Planning, Asad Umar, in the chair. The session was co-chaired by Lt General Hamood uz Zaman Khan.

SAPM on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, Sindh Health Minister, and Chief Secretaries of all federating units attended the session via video link.

In a statement issued on Twitter, the NCOC said that a detailed review of disease prevalence in the country was taken. Following the meeting, important decisions regarding restrictions were taken after extensive deliberations.

The session made these important decisions after extensive deliberations:

Allowed from 24th May:

• Opening of education institutes in districts with less than 5% positivity rate (staggered opening)
• Outdoor dining daily till 23:59 hours. Takeaways will be allowed 24/7
• Opening of the tourism sector under stringent protocols

Allowed from 1st June:

• Outdoor marriage ceremonies with a maximum of 150 Individuals
• Staggered opening of the education sector from 7th June (other than those opened from 24th May)

The following will remain closed until further order:

• Shrines *Cinemas
• Indoor dining
• Indoor gyms
• Amusement parks (however, walking/jogging tracks will remain open)

Contact sports, festivals, cultural and other events will be banned completely. Further, all types of indoor/outdoor gatherings (cultural, musical/religious/miscellaneous events) will also remain suspended until further orders.

Other important decisions include:

• Mask mandate and social distancing *Implementation of broader lockdowns with strict compliance with protocols
• Continuation of current inbound and land border policy till further orders
• Board examinations after 20 June 21

A detailed review of these decisions will be carried out on 27th May and 7th June 21 respectively. Critical monitoring of disease prevalence and critical healthcare system is being carried out on daily basis, and necessary steps will be taken accordingly, whenever deemed appropriate to control the spread of the virus.

The decision to gradually lift coronavirus restrictions has come on the basis of declining infections. During the last 24 hours, Pakistan reported 3,256 cases, and 104 deaths. The country's total caseload stands at 886,184 with over 66,000 active cases.