Punjab govt allows water sports, reopens parks with SOPs

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Saturday decided to reopen public parks and resume water sports with strict adherence to the coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs), ARY News reported.

Presiding over a meeting, Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid said that the parks will be reopened to the public in the areas where the COVID-19 positivity rate is less than five per cent.

She said that the provincial government will soon allow shopping malls and food courts to reopen. The minister said that they would vaccinate over 0.4 million government teachers on priority basis.

Earlier on May 25, Punjab government had announced to open all public and private medical colleges across the province starting May 27 with all Covid-19 SOPs strictly in place.

All medical universities, medical colleges and dental colleges falling under the rubric of the notification will now open from May 27 according to the notification released by the Specialized Healthcare department of Punjab.

The decision had been taken in consideration of the ongoing pandemic situation with mandatory adherance to COVID sops. In the first step, the notification had said, the third year, fourth year and final year MBBS students alongside the BDS students would be able to take classes.