Bakeries, milk shops can now operate till midnight in Sindh

Bakeries and milk shops have been allowed to to operate till 12:00am, midnight, a notification from the Sindh Home Department said Saturday.

Earlier, the Sindh government had restricted the timings of bakeries and milk shops from 5am-7pm.

"In partial medication of this department’s order of even number dated 07.05.2021, the Bakeries and Milk-Shops are allowed to open till 12:00 am (midnight) for takeaways/home-delivery," a notification from the home department said.

A day earlier, the Sindh government had announced a new set of restrictions as part of the national “stay home-stay safe” drive to curb coronavirus during the Eid holidays.

In a notification issued by the Sindh Home Department, the provincial government stated that the new restrictions will remain in place from May 9 to 16.

All tourist spots, picnic places, including beaches (Hawkesbay, Sandspit, Sea View, etc), recreational parks shall remain closed.

A ban was also imposed on all kinds of public transport within the city, inter-city, and inter-provincial, except for private vehicles with half seating capacity.

All Eid-related markets — special Eid bazaars, chand-raat bazars, mehndi, jewellery shops — shall remain closed during the period being non-essential.

Essential Services A:

Allowed to open irrespective of timings, related operations and transportation including that of the staff is allowed. Strict adherence to SOPs and carrying proper identification is mandatory.

• Hospitals / medical clinic (Aesthetics /Beauty Clinics are not allowed)
• Stand-alone pharmacies (General stores or shops selling other items and keeping medicine are not allowed)
• Medical Centres, Vaccination Centres
• Utility services offices, staff, (Electricity. Natural gas. telecom)
• Essential municipal services (Water supply including authorized tankers, Sewerage)
• Petrol pumps (the shops/restaurants that are attached to such petrol pumps are to follow the limited timings and relevant orders relating to shops/restaurants)
• E-commerce/home delivery/ postal and courier services with proper trained, uniformed, and identity carrying delivery persons duly trained and following SOPs
• Welfare organization like Edhi, Chippa etc duly registered and working in coordination with District Administration / Law Enforcement Agencies for food and relief distribution, etc.
• Call centres, customer support centers for essential services
• Technical Staff of cellular companies, internet service providers
• Print, electronic media, newspaper staff
• Government essential services, offices and staff and their field operations including, but not limited to, Port operations PNSC, Customs, IRS, Postal, railways. PTCL etc.
• Continuous operations/ essential services related/ export-oriented industry with proper SOPs.
• Other than the above there shall be no opening of markets, shops etc. or any unnecessary movement of public front 07:00pm to 05:00 am.

Essential Services B:

• Allowed to open with restricted time — 05:00am-07:00 pm
• Grocery Stores, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, poultry and similar markets.
• Restaurants, cafe — only takeaways, drive-through and home-delivery is allowed. After sunset, only home delivery and drive-through is allowed. Under no condition the dining facility either indoor or outdoor is allowed.
• Pet shops, feed shops, veterinary related services, and hospitals.

A strict lockdown will start from Sunday May 9, 2021.