The National Command and Operation Centre on Saturday announced that public transport — between provinces, cities and within cities — will resume functioning from tomorrow (Sunday) instead of the previously announced May 17 date of resumption.
A special session of the body managing the country’s coronavirus response was held today to review the implementation of standard operating procedures throughout the “stay home, stay safe” May 8-16 period that had been set to curb the spread of the virus.
It was chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar and co-chaired by National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan also participated, while the provincial chief secretaries attended the session through video link.
According to a statement by the NCOC, the forum “expressed satisfaction on compliance” of SOPs during Eid holidays.
“Forum appreciated the efforts of all stakeholders especially the cooperation rendered by public across the country,” read the statement.
After the review was conducted, the following decisions were announced:
All inter-provincial, inter-city and intra-city public transport to resume from May 16 instead of previously given date of May 17. The transport will, however, be operative with 50% occupancy of passengers.
Railways will maintain its operation with 70% occupancy.
All markets and shops will remain open till 8pm from May 17 onwards.
Normal working hours for offices will be resumed from May 17 onwards with the condition of 50% work from home.
According to the statement, a review of the remaining guidelines will be carried out on May 19.
The forum emphasised on the continued monitoring of SOP enforcement and appealed to public for adherence of these SOPs.
The NCOC also urged the public to ensure prior registration on 1166 prior to walking in for vaccination.
