KARACHI: Sindh government on Sunday allowed on-campus classes for students in classes 9 and above and eased coronavirus restrictions from Monday (today) on businesses — with a mandatory vaccination caveat — as it appeared to capitulate to traders who had begun to violate the lockdown regime.
A traders’ body in Karachi had on Friday announced that they would keep their shops open until 8pm, two hours after the permitted timings. Provincial government ministers managed to persuade them to hold off on their decision until Monday.
The loosening of restrictions was agreed upon in a meeting of the provincial task force on Covid-19, chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, on Sunday.
Sindh government allowed businesses to remain open till 8pm instead of 6pm, while restaurants would be allowed to remain open for outdoor dining until midnight from today onwards. The Chief Minister said all shopkeepers would have to get vaccinated and keep proof of their vaccination at their shops.
Educational institutions for classes nine and above, with strict observance of standard operating procedures (SOPs), also open today.
Beaches will also be opened, Shah said, adding that salons and barber shops will be allowed to open and outdoor weddings will be permitted after two weeks. The Chief Minister said strict SOPs will have to be followed by markets, salons and at the beach.
Provincial government functionaries, health minister Azra Pechuho among them, had been maintaining that the restrictions, particularly on schools, would remain as the positivity ratio was still high in urban centres. As of Sunday, it was said to be over 8 per cent in Karachi and over 5 per cent in Hyderabad.
Just hours before, Shah said at Karachi’s Expo Centre vaccination centre that when the number of corona cases increased in Lahore, it was not said that “economic murder” was taking place, but when cases increased in Sindh, it was called economic murder, and lamented the lack of unity.
“We make consensus decisions in the task force. The task force consists of police, Rangers, doctors and everyone. I apologize to the people if there is any inconvenience,” he added. Shah also said he asked the Prime Minister to ask Asad Umar to urge Karachiites follow SOPs as caution is needed. “But he did not do so,” he added.
The sudden relaxation in measures in the province was met with surprise by medical professionals, according to Geo News. Dr Qaiser Sajjad, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association, was quoted as saying a unified policy was needed.
Dr Sajjad also praised the manner in which Punjab managed the third wave, saying the results of its strict adherence to SOPs were obvious. “Unless there is a uniform policy on the corona issue, the situation will not improve.”
He said coronavirus strains that originated in the UK and India “have also come to Karachi”, he warned, suggesting that in order to quell the outbreak, widespread vaccinations are needed. “500,000 to 600,000 in Pakistan should get vaccinated daily to meet the government’s target (of 70 million by the end of the year),” he said.