Home dept issues new Covid SOPs for mosques

The Sindh home department has reviewed the Covid situation in Karachi and issued new directives for the mosques, asking their administrations to allow in only those people who are fully vaccinated.

A notification, issued by the department on Friday and addressed to all commissioners in the province, directed that only fully vaccinated individuals should be allowed into the mosques to offer prayers to avoid any risk to others, mandatory mask-wearing for indoor prayer gatherings should be continued, carpets from the floors of the mosques should be removed, and arrangements should be made for adequate ventilation for indoor prayer gatherings.

Accordingly, the notification said, the district administrations should be requested to comply with the National Command Operation Centre’s decisions.

Sindh Secretariat

The CM Secretariat, showing serious concern over its officials not adhering to the instructions, has issued a strict warning.

Officials said the competent authority had taken a serious view of the fact that the majority of the officials posted in the Chief Minister's Secretariat and the CM House were not adhering to the instructions for regularity and punctuality, which, they said, had already been communicated and issued to them from time to time.

Moreover, a number of officials did not go through biometric attendance, which was against the office discipline and decorum, they added. They added that the officials of the secretariat were hereby advised to strictly follow the instructions in letter and spirit, failing which strict disciplinary proceedings under the E&D rules would be initiated.

The officials working at the CM Secretariat and the CM House, Karachi, have been told to ensure that their attendance is marked on the biometric attendance system. They have also been directed to attend office in time. i.e. upto 9:30am; otherwise, they will be considered absent, resulting deduction in their CM Secretariat and CM House Allowance. The officials have been told to follow all the SOPs relating to Covid-19.