Bakeries, milk shops exempted from lockdown in Punjab

LAHORE: The Punjab government has granted permission to bakeries and milk shops to resume trade throughout the day by exempting it from lockdown regulations, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The Primary and Secondary Healthcare department of the province notified changes in the timings of different businesses and exempted bakeries and milk shops from the lockdown measures.

According to the notification, meat shops have been allowed to be opened for the whole week during 9:00 am to 7:00 pm after following all standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Earlier in the day, a complete lockdown was observed in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces as the National Coordination Committee (NCC) had decided on June 1 to keep the businesses closed on Saturday and Sunday in a week, which will remain open from Monday to Friday.

Read: Punjab govt decides reopening public parks in Lahore

The federal and provincial governments had agreed on a recommended list for reopening the businesses and trade activities amid coronavirus crisis.

All major markets, shopping malls and business centres have closed and business activities were suspended due to the lockdown in three provinces. Only vegetable, grocery, milk and meat shops, medical stores and petrol pumps were opened under the instructions of the government.

It is pertinent to mention here that Balochistan province had announced lockdown only on Friday. Business activities remain continued in the province on other days of the week.

The government had decided to strictly implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the virus spread. They had also agreed to devise a balanced policy to cope with the challenges of pandemic and economic stability.