Balochistan government has decided to extend the ongoing smart lockdown in the province until 16th of this month.
According to notification of Home and Tribal Affairs Department Balochistan, all shopping malls, markets, shops, stores outlets etc, will open from 9:00am to 07:00pm six days of the week while there will be complete lockdown on every Friday.
Meanwhile, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that a poor country like Pakistan cannot afford to have a prolonged lockdown.
Commenting on the summary sent to the Punjab CM, she said: “Experts were of the opinion we extend the lockdown. [But] you can only distribute ration for two to three months.”
She added that the lesson citizens should learn from this is to take precautionary measures. “You have no idea who has Covid-19, you have to save yourself. The more precautions you take, the better.”
On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said government is opening transport, tourism and other sectors with implementation of proper SOPs.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister stated this while briefing media in Peshawar on Tuesday. He urged the people to follow SOPs set by the government to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the province. Mahmood Khan said that the government will monitor these sectors and if coronavirus cases reported they will be closed accordingly.
Also, the Sindh Government gave the green signal to resume public and online transport services across the province on Tuesday.
This was announced by Sindh Transport Minister Awais following successful negotiations between transporters and the Sindh government.
A monitoring and inspection team has been constituted to ensure that social distancing guidelines and SOPs are followed by transporters to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“Transport will be allowed to resume within the city from tomorrow,” said Awais, adding that all transporters will have to follow the government’s SOPs.
“If SOPs are not followed then public transport will once again be banned,” said the minister. He added that extra passengers will not be added to buses and other modes of transport.
Awais stated that action will be taken if it is discovered that masks and sanitizers are not present in any public transport vehicle. He added that the notification regarding the resumption of public transport will be issued tonight.
The provincial government has also allowed online transport services to resume operations as well, however, with proper guidelines in place. As per the SOPs, only two people in a car at a time will be allowed to travel, said the minister.
“One more person can be added in an emergency situation,” said the minister. He added that they will be allowed to resume operations on a seat by seat basis.
The Government of Sindh on Friday had stated that the standard operating procedures for public transport, including ride-hailing apps for taxis and buses, have been prepared so that commuting services can resume weeks after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced an ease in the coronavirus lockdown.
Last month, the Sindh government had refused to resume transport services while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had announced the reopening of all public transport, following in Punjab’s footsteps.
Meanwhile, President Karachi Transport Ittihad (KTI) Irshad Bukhari said that he was thankful to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for allowing transport services in the metropolis.
“After two and a half months transport is resuming,” he said, adding: “We will make it mandatory for drivers and conductors to wear masks and gloves.”
The KTI president said they would ensure that passengers were sitting a seat apart.
“A meeting of transporters has been convened to discuss the latest development,” he said.
“Everyone has been asked to follow SOPs […] If they allow anyone to sit on the roof and their vehicle is impounded we won’t help them.”
Also, a meeting of the Sindh education department’s steering committee under provincial minister Saeed Ghani decided on Tuesday that teaching would not be allowed in any public or private educational institutions across the province.
However, private educational institutions were permitted to start online education. All of these schools must fully comply with SOPs, Sindh Education Minister Ghani added.
He said there was no final decision as yet on the reopening of schools in the province as the coronavirus cases continued to rise all over Pakistan.
According to reports, Ghani said the schools would be the last places to be reopened in the province. Parents would not send children to schools in the current situation, he added.
On the other hand, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday held a meeting of the country managers of international airlines operating within Pakistan to seek suggestions pertaining to the resumption of international flight operations from the country, ARY NEWS reported.
The meeting at the CAA headquarters was chaired by the authority’s Additional Director General Air Vice Marshal Tanveer Bhatti where suggestions were sought from the officials of international airlines for resuming flight schedule.
The airlines’ officials were briefed on resuming 30 percent international flight operations from the country. Suggestions were also sought from them for bringing passengers from abroad so that Pakistanis stranded abroad could be brought back home.
The CAA directed international airlines to submit a flight schedule within two days.
It was also conveyed that there would be an hour gap between the landing of two international flights operated from the country’s airports while the gap between two flights for small planes would be upto 40 minutes.
The CAA would convey the recommendations of the international airlines to secretary aviation for approval.
It is pertinent to mention here that the domestic flight operations resumed after two months in the country to facilitate passengers before Eid on May 16.
Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar announced to resume the domestic flight operations.
The first phase of flight resumption saw 20% flight capacity and that gradually increased according to the coronavirus situation of the country.
The flight operations take place at five major airports in the country during the phase of resumption. A total of 68 flights will depart from Jinnah International Airport Karachi while Islamabad airport will see 32 flights depart.
