KARACHI: In order to reduce pressure on hospitals, contain spread of Delta variant of COVID-19 and force people to get vaccinated, Sindh govt. has imposed 9 day partial-lockdown. 

The lockdown that goes into effect Saturday 31st of July, will end on Sunday 8th of August. This was decided in a huddle of the Coronavirus Task Force with CM Sindh in the chair. However, Karachi’s traders’ bodies refused to accept the lockdown orders. While Sindh Health Dept wanted imposition of a 14-day lockdown, Asad Umar (who is heading the NCOC) maintained that locking cities down for a couple of weeks was not going to contain the mysterious respiratory disease caused by Coronavirus.

According to the decisions made during the meeting: All examinations that were scheduled for this period had been postponed; pillion riding has been banned for 9 days; there will be no inter-city public transport on the roads; not more than two people will travel in a car; citizens have been asked to remain indoor and those stepping out of houses could be asked by the authorities to show their vaccination cards;  journalists would be exempted.

It has also been decided that petrol pumps, bakeries, groceries, pharmacies, meat shops, milk shops, vegetable shops would remain open till 6pm. Eateries would only  be able to sell food online and nobody would be allowed to takeaway food from the restaurants; the meeting further decided to withhold the salaries of those government employees who are not vaccinated after 31st day of August.

In the meeting it was decided that government offices will remain closed during the next week; the huddle noting that bank was a federal subject said that the concerned authorities would be asked to see that the branches operate with skeleton staff; the port will remain open so will the export oriented industry. Vaccination centers will remain open during lockdown. Meanwhile, people started converging at vaccination centers in hordes to get the jab.

Newspakistan.tv | YouTube Channel