The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday decided to resume interprovincial, intercity and intra-city transport with 50 percent passenger occupancy from May 16 (today).
The forum reviewed the implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) during Eid holidays and expressed satisfaction on compliance ensured by the provinces. It appreciated the efforts of all stakeholders especially the cooperation rendered by public across the country for adhering to safety protocols. After reviewing existing non-pharmaceutical interventions, the NCOC decided that all inter provincial, intercity and intra-city public transport will resume from May 16, instead of previously scheduled date of May 17. “The transport will, however, be operative with 50 percent occupancy of passengers,” it decided.
The NCOC decided that railways would maintain its operation with 70 percent occupancy. However, all markets and shops would remain open till 8:00 pm from May 17 onwards. It was also decided that normal working hours for offices would be resumed from May 17, whereas the condition of 50 percent work from home would remain enforced.
The NCOC emphasised on continued monitoring of SOPs enforcement and appealed to public for adherence of the safety guidelines. It also urged the public to ensure prior registration on 1166 before walking in for vaccination.
Meanwhile, the national tally of total active Covid-19 cases was recorded at 71,804 on Saturday as 1,531 new cases emerged across country. According to the latest update issued by the NCOC, 3,042 patients recovered while 83 died, with 73 under treatment in hospitals. Most of the deaths occurred in Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The maximum ventilators are occupied in four major areas including Lahore 58 percent, Multan 73 percent, Bahawalpur 40 percent and Peshawar 43 percent. The maximum oxygen beds are occupied in four major areas of Gujranwala 63 percent, Peshawar 45 percent, Bahawalpur 42 percent and Multan 48 percent.
Around 588 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no Covid affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.
Some 30,248 tests were conducted across the country on Friday, including 11,110 in Sindh, 12,530 in Punjab, 4,126 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 1,461 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 410 in Balochistan, 300 in GB, and 311 in AJK.
Around 783,480 people were recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.
Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 874,751 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment Covid patients so far, including AJK 18,212, Balochistan 23,814, GB 5,417, ICT 79,027, KP 126,614, Punjab 324,589 and Sindh 297,078.
About 19,467 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion. A total of 12,410,924 corona tests were conducted so far, while 639 hospitals were equipped with Covid facilities. Some 4,805 corona patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.
