Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday, after continuous warnings of rising Covid-19 cases across the country, made it compulsory for all citizens to wear a face mask when stepping out of their homes.
The directive comes a day after Pakistan’s active cases surpassed the 11,000 mark and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan announced that the second wave of the deadly virus had started in the country.
Wednesday NCOC meeting, presided over by Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, decided that wearing a face mask will be mandatory in both government and private sector offices.
Later in a tweet, Umar said NCOC has approved the use of antigen testing in addition to the PCR tests being carried out.
“This is part of a strategy to increase the level of testing. The symptomatic cases will all still be administered PCR tests. The decision is in line with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Command and Operations Centre has also issued a fresh warning to business owners, warning them to shut down before or by 10pm.
The decision is aimed to curb the further spread of an already rising number of coronavirus infections and pertains to restaurants, wedding halls, commercial markets and shopping malls. Recreational spots, such as amusement and public parks, have been asked to shut down by 6pm but essential services such as medical stores, clinics and hospitals will remain open.
According to the notification, due to “consistent increase in positivity percentage and disease prevalence during last two weeks”, NCOC decided to issue the new directives in areas with more than 2% positivity.
This includes Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar and Quetta.
The development comes on the back of an announcement made by the NCOC earlier in the day, mandating the use of masks by all citizens across the country, in all public spaces, citing a rising number of coronavirus cases.
To that end, it is now compulsory for everyone to wear masks in government and private offices as well as in markets, shopping malls, and while using public transport. Authorities have been directed to ensure the strict implementation of safety protocols in areas identified as coronavirus hotspots.
Amid the rise in infection rate, the death toll is also on the rise in Pakistan as the coronavirus claimed another 14 lives during the past 24 hours, showed the figures released by National Command and Operation Centre on Wednesday.
Most of these deaths were reported in Punjab and Sindh – six and five respectively – the two most affected regions of the country. As a result, the overall toll has now reached 6,759.
The same period saw 825 people testing positive for the virus, raising the number of cases reported to 330,200.
