Punjab Ends Coronavirus Lockdown, Notification Issued!

 

                                              Image Credits: ARY NEWS

LAHORE: Punjab lifted the lockdown on Monday, allowing all sectors except marriage halls and educational institutes to operate under safety measures outlined by the government.

Written by: Ch Hussain                       Published On: Sun, 9 August

The Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department issued a notification following the decisions made in the August 6 meeting of the National Coordination Committee wherein it was decided to lift the restrictions on all sectors on August 10 and resume educational activities from Sept 15.“All sectors except Marriage/Marquees and Educational Institutions are hereby allowed to operate from 10th August 2020 subject to adoption of SOPs/ guidelines,” read the notification, a copy of which is available with ARY News.

Religious congregations will be allowed after approval of authorities concerned under health guidelines. Business hours and weekly holidays have been reverted back to pre-Covid-19 practice.

All kinds of public transport have also been allowed to operate under SOPs.

On August 6, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar had announced that the government has decided to reopen dine-in restaurants, cafes, cinemas, parks and gyms from August 10 after a nearly five-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, he said, all schools and other educational institutions in the country will reopen from September 15.

Restaurants, cinemas and gyms to reopen from August 10: Asad Umar

                                    Image Credits: ARY NEWS

 ISLAMABAD: Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Thursday said that government has decided to reopen dine-in restaurants, cafes, cinemas and gyms from August 10 after a closure of nearly five months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ARY News reported.

Written by: Ch Hussain                       Published On: Sun, 9 August

Speaking to the media after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), Asad Umar said that all educational institutions across the country would reopen from September 15. “A Covid-19 situation would be reviewed on September 7 before reopening of schools,” he added.

                Video Credits: ARY NEWS

He said restrictions on already operational trains and airlines will be lifted in October.

Marriage halls will be allowed to function from 15th of September whereas beauty parlors will be allowed to open from 10th of this month, announced Asad Umar.

The minister said that standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the recently allowed businesses will be finalised in the next few days.

Talking about tourism spots, Asad Umar announced that all tourist spots and hotels in the country will reopen on August 8.

The government has also given permission to hold events for non-contact sports from August 10, he added.

• Tourism Industry: August 8
• Restaurants, cafes (dine-in): August 10
• Cinemas, theatres and gyms: August 10
• Non-contact sports: August 10
• Educational institutions: September 15
• Marriage halls: September 15

It is pertinent to mention here that all restaurants, shopping malls and shops were closed following the lockdown imposed in the country in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The active coronavirus cases in the country stands at 19,770 while the nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,035.

19,770 COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment and 256,058 patients have recuperated from the disease thus far. In 735 hospitals across the country 1365 COVID-19 patients have been admitted.

Punjab decides to reopen cinemas, theaters; SOPs issued

                              Image Credits: ARY NEWS

 

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Sunday allowed cinemas and theaters to reopen from Monday, August 10 with strict enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs), ARY News reported.

Written by: Ch Hussain                       Published On: Sun, 9 August

A notification has been issued by Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Department in this regard. The primary & secondary health department has also issued SOPs under the instructions of Punjab govt.In order to maintain social distancing, 6-foot distance has been made mandatory in the cinemas and theaters. No customer will be allowed to enter the restaurants without masks.

SOPs for cinemas and theaters

• No Mask No Entry should be strictly implemented
• Avoid touching surfaces unnecessarily
• Maintain sufficient stock of hand sanitizers at cinemas and theatre halls
• Limit the hall occupancy to 40 percent of total capacity
• Open air theatre should be preferred over indoor closed hall
• Online ticketing should be preferred
• Cinema, theaters should offer shows of shorter duration (40-60 minutes)
• Ensure adequate ventilation of the halls

• Inter show interval should be at least for 60 minutes in order to ensure proper cleanliness and disinfection
• Ensure temperature checking at entry points

The Punjab government yesterday also issued a list of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for restaurants and fast-food outlets in the province.

In a notification, Primary and Secondary Healthcare secretary said that social gathering will not be allowed in the eateries. There will be a complete ban on entry of people above the age of 60 in the restaurants.

Govt launches app to track ongoing plantation drive.

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Usman Dar said on Sunday announced that the government has launched an application to track the ongoing plantation drive in the country through geo-tagging technology.

Written by: Ch Hussain                       Published On: Sun, 9 August

According to a press statement, the application was prepared with the help of the Punjab Information Technology board to keep the record of each sapling, being planted under the country’s first-ever digital plantation campaign.

A special feature of geo-tagging has been incorporated in the application, enabling the forest departments’ officers to keep the plantation record.

Giving details about the mobile application, Usman Dar said that live location and number of planted saplings will be identified through this special application.

Besides all this, a green selfie feature has also been introduced in the application to enable the volunteers to upload their pictures while planting a sapling anywhere in the country, he added.

He further in a statement said it was the first time in the country’s history that modern technology was being employed to carry out a plantation drive in the country.

It is pertinent to mention here that a massive plantation drive, kicked off on Sunday to mark the ‘tiger force day’, is underway and all the government departments, civil society and volunteers of Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Tiger Force have been fully engaged in the campaign to achieve the one-day target of planting 3.5 million trees across the country.