The Sindh government on Sunday allowed businesses to remain open till 8pm instead of 6pm, as had been vehemently demanded by them, but made vaccination mandatory for the staff of all shops and markets.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the provincial task force on Covid-19, which also decided to reopen educational institutions for classes nine and above from June 7 with strict observance of standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah decided that businesses would be allowed to function till 8pm from Monday (tomorrow) but the staff members of all shops would be required to get inoculated against Covid-19.
“The vaccination certificates of shops’ staff will be checked after 15 days,” Shah was quoted as saying in a statement.
Earlier this week, all trade-related associations of Karachi had decided to defy the Sindh government’s restrictions regarding opening of markets and shops beyond 6pm and announced that they would open all their businesses till 8pm from Saturday.
Today’s Covid task force meeting also decided that restaurants would be allowed to remain open for outdoor dining until midnight while ensuring social distancing between diners.
Marriage halls and outdoor weddings will be allowed after two weeks, while beauty salons will also be allowed to reopen with SOPs.
The meeting also gave the green light to reopen Sea View and other beaches.
The meeting was informed that the positivity rate in Karachi on June 5 was 8.5 per cent, while it was 12.45pc on June 1. The positivity in Hyderabad on June 5 was 11.06pc.
It was told that there were currently 79 patients on ventilators in Karachi and two in Shaheed Benazirabad.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Shah gave the target to the provincial health department to vaccinate 18 million people within the next three months.
Read more: WHO says ‘will do everything’ to find Covid-19 origins
Earlier in the day, Shah announced that all teaching and non-teaching staff at educational institutions would have to be vaccinated if schools were to reopen.
He said all shopkeepers would also have to get vaccinated and keep proofs of their vaccination at their shops.
Notably, analysts believe that Pakistan’s economic condition does not allow the country to prolong a curfew-like lockdown. Prime Minister Imran Khan has been of the view that any attempt to restrict daily wagers to their residences might lead to some serious law and order situation.
We should, argued the premier, be careful before we decide to take any stern action to combat Coronavirus outbreak. Some media persons slammed PM Imran for not comprehending the situation and letting the virus spread across the country. However, with the passage of time, the premier was able to offer concrete evidence to support his version of partial lockdown.
Countries should be able to swiftly identify and quarantine coronavirus hotspots instead of putting their whole societies on lockdown, but people must accept this ‘new reality’ for it to work, said WHO’s envoy to Russia. This is the same stance of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan who announced to quarantine specific areas rather than locking down entire country. It is worth mentioning that PM Imran Khan was the first leader to suggest this idea in his press briefings since March.
“I do believe that there might be a surge [in Covid-19 cases], but we’ll be able to respond to it much quicker, having all the experience that we’ve got, unfortunately, over the last four months,” Dr. Melita Vujnovic, who represents the World Health Organization in Russia, told RT when asked about the impact of the gradual lifting of lockdowns – that has begun in many countries – on the pandemic.