LEAs to be deployed at tourist spots during Eid holidays: NCOC

ISLAMABAD: National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) has given an additional task to the law enforcement authorities (LEAs) to manage entry and exit points at tourist spots during Eid holidays, ARY NEWS reported on Thursday.

In special directives issued to the National Highway Authority (NHA) and Frontier Works Organization (FWO), the NCOC said that they should highlight banners at the toll plaza regarding the government’s decision to ban visits to tourist places during Eid holidays.

The NCOC said that the provinces have also issued directives to restrict movement during holidays, besides also banning tourist spots and hotels in these areas.

The LEAs have been given special responsibility at tourist spots.

Earlier in the day, the Provincial Task Force on Covid-19 in KP decided to close all tourist spots in Pakistan’s northern areas during the Eid holidays to stem the third wave of the coronavirus.

A meeting of the Task Force reviewed the prevailing Covid-19 situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and took a number of decisions to prevent the spread of the virus.

Briefing the media after the meeting, the KP chief minister’s Special Assistant on Information Kamran Bangash said Covid-19 cases registered a sharp decline due to the government’s “best strategy”.

“The positivity ratio of infections is 8 percent to 9pc,” he said, adding the hardest-hit districts of the province are also reporting a drop in cases.

Bangash announced that all tourist spots will remain closed from May 8 to May 16. He said the provincial government will approach the Centre seeking a ban on inter-provincial transport.