The government of Sindh on Sunday announced that it has decided to ease some of the COVID-19 restrictions earlier imposed to curb the rapid spread of the virus in the province.
The decisions were taken during the meeting of the Sindh Coronavirus Task Force, with Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah in the chair. Others who attended the meeting include Senator Murtaza Wahab, Dr Azra Pechuho,Saeed Ghani, Nasir Shah, police higher-ups, members from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and other prominent government officials.
The provincial government revealed that the restrictions were being eased after a slight dip was witnessed in the ratio of coronavirus positivity in the province. CM Shah said that on June 1, the ratio of coronavirus positivity in Karachi was 8.5%, while there were 12.45% cases in the city.
The following decisions were taken during the meeting.
- Shops and markets will be allowed to remain open until 8pm instead of 6pm.
- All shopkeepers and staffers must be vaccinated. Sindh government will randomly check vaccination certificates of shopkeepers, staffers after 14 days.
- Restaurants will be allowed to open outdoor dining until 12 am. Indoor dining will continue to be strictly banned. Restaurants will have to make sure that people are not sitting close to each other in the outdoor areas.
- Beaches, including the Sea View, will be allowed to reopen.
- All salons and beauty parlours will be allowed to operate under strict coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) starting Monday.
- Schools and educational institutions, for classes IX and above, will reopen from June 7 (Monday). The Sindh government, however, has made it mandatory for all teachers and staffers to get vaccinated.
- Marriage halls and outdoor weddings will be allowed to reopen after two weeks, the CM announced.