Karachi: Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Al-Zaabi met Chief Minister (CM) of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday at the CM House and discussed matters of interest and bilateral ties.
The ambassador and CM discussed possible investments in different sectors of Sindh, a statement by the CM House said. The ambassador expressed the desire of UAE investors wanting to invest in multiple sectors through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
The CM welcomed the prospect and promised to completely facilitate the investors.
During the meeting, the CM and Ambassador Al-Zaabi also exchanged views on the current situation of Covid-19. "When we imposed lockdown in Sindh, the positivity ratio was at 13%," CM stated.
"Today the positivity ratio of Covid is 9.4%."
The CM said that through lockdown there was a decrease in coronavirus cases. "The public can only control coronavirus through precautions," Shah added.
Sindh decides to impose lockdown in Karachi till August 8
Since July, there was a continuous rise in Covid-19 cases as the Delta variant spread across the country. Sindh, the worst-hit province, had decided to impose a partial lockdown from July 31 till August 8 in an attempt to deal with the fourth wave of Covid-19.
During this period, all shopping malls and inter-city transport were shut down. However, grocery stores and pharmacies were exempted.
After a week, the Sindh government decided to ease the restrictions from August 9. The decision came after a joint meeting of the provincial government with the officials of the National Command and Operation centre (NCOC) on Saturday.
As per a notification issued from the provincial home department, businesses have been allowed to open till 8:00 pm with Friday and Sunday as safe days. However, milk shops, pharmacies, petrol pumps will remain open round the clock.
Sindh set to lift lockdown on August 9
All types of indoor gatherings have been banned in the province, while outdoor gatherings have been allowed with participants not exceeding the limit of 300 people.
The district administrations have been empowered to impose a smart lockdown in their areas in case of a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Meanwhile, during the last 24 hours, 53,528 tests were conducted across Pakistan out of which 4,040 came out positive. The total number of affected individuals reached 1,071,620 since the outbreak of the deadly virus last year.
The positivity ratio was recorded at 7.54% during the last 24 hours. Fifty-three people lost their lives while battling the deadly virus, adding to the death toll of 23,918.