Govt imposes ban on indoor restaurants as Covid-19 cases surge

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the federal government has decided to ban all indoor restaurants due to a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases, ARY News reported.

Addressing a presser alongside PM’s aide on health Dr. Faisal Sultan, he said, “Covid-19 cases are rapidly increasing and the government has decided to ban all indoor restaurants across the country”.

The planning minister said that the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan here in Islamabad has approved recommendations that were laid down by the state’s education minister regarding the closure of all educational institutions across the country from November 26.

“Decision to close schools was not easy one but lives of children are more important,” said Asad Umar and added that govt working on a mechanism for education to move it uninterrupted.

The planning minister also said that schools would reopen after winter vacations on January 11 by monitoring the Covid-19 situation.

“Pakistan can witness similar Covid situation like June if citizens did not take precautions,” warned the federal minister.

COAS directs army’s full support to national effort

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday chaired 237th Corps Commanders Conference (CCC) where issues pertaining to geostrategic, regional, and national security environment were discussed.

The corps commander conference also deliberated upon the COVID-19 situation and measures required to confront the pandemic in the wake of 2nd wave.

The ISP said that COAS Bajwa specifically directed all commanders to ensure measures to support the national effort.

Pakistan Covid cases

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan recorded fresh 2,954 COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours.

Read: Govt mulling over options to shorten summer vacations: Shafqat Mahmood

In the past 24 hours, 48 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 7,744. 1,389 patients have recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours and 1,751 patients are in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 379,883, whereas, the active cases stood at 40,379.

A total of 39,165 tests were conducted across the country during this period. 331,760 people have recovered from the deadly disease while 5,256,120 samples have been tested thus far.