No, indoor dining has not been allowed in Karachi, Hyderabad

Karachi: The Sindh government clarified on Monday that it has not allowed indoor dining in Karachi and Hyderabad following confusion among citizens over its notification issued a day ago.

In the clarifying notification, the Sindh Home Department said that a complete ban will remain in place for indoor dining for citizens in Karachi and Hyderabad. Only outdoor dining will be allowed in these two cities till 10pm under strict coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the notification added.

On Sunday, the provincial government had announced new lockdown rules applicable from September 1 to 15.

NCOC expands Covid-19 restrictions to 27 cities

"A complete ban shall continue on indoor dining for Karachi and Hyderabad, however, outdoor dining will be allowed till 10pm under strict Covid protocols," the notification on August 29 read.

In the next line, however, it added that indoor and outdoor dining will be allowed till 11:59pm at 50% occupancy for the vaccinated individuals only. This led to confusion among citizens.

However, in its clarifying notice on Monday, the province has stated that indoor and outdoor dining with certain restrictions are for districts other than Karachi and Hyderabad.

New cases

Pakistan reported another 3,800 cases on Monday, with positivity ratio continuing to hover near the 7% mark. Another 66 deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours with the Delta variant taking toll on the country's already fragile healthcare system.

A total of 56,279 tests were conducted.

The number of active cases has now reached 93,690 during the ongoing fourth wave, inching near the highest ever value of 108,642 witnessed during the first wave of Covid-19 last year.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) expanded its coronavirus restrictions to a total of 27 cities as the country continued to battle the fourth wave of Covid-19.

Earlier, the restrictions had been imposed in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Karachi, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Gilgit and Skardu.

The NCOC has now expanded its coronavirus Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) to Swat, Mansehra, Lower Dir, Swabi, Swat and Chitral. The restrictions have also been expanded to Khushab, Khanewal, Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala and Rahim Yar Khan.

In a statement, the NCOC said it will conduct a review of the SOPs on September 13.