Punjab govt finalises market timings amid lockdown

LAHORE: The Punjab government has finalised the market timings amid COVID-19 lockdown which will be coming into effect from Wednesday (tomorrow), ARY News reported.

The Punjab Minister for Industries, Commerce and Investment Mian Aslam Iqbal announced that pharmacies and petrol pumps will remain open for 24 hours everyday from tomorrow.

He said that markets and shops will be allowed to continue trade activities across the province from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, whereas, confectionary shops will be opened between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm.

Iqbal also said that the decision to tighten lockdown measures would be finalised by provincial government over the recommendations of committee.

Earlier in the day, Punjab reported 579 cases of coronavirus during the past 24-hours, raising the provincial tally to 20,656.

The spokesman for the primary and secondary health care department Punjab said that overall 352 people have died from the virus in the province with 15 deaths during the past 24 hours.

“We have currently performed 209370 tests,” the spokesman said.

A spokesperson of the Punjab health department had said that of the fresh cases, 318 tested positive in Lahore.

Over 6124 people had recovered from the virus in the province thus far, added the spokesperson.