The National Command and Operation Centre on Wednesday banned all indoor events and gatherings in the cities with COVID positivity rate exceeding 10 percent. Outdoor events with a maximum of 500 guests, however, are permissible, according to a recent press release issued by the NCOC.
The decision, which is effective Jan. 24, has been taken to tackle with the pandemic’s fifth wave being driven by the Omicron variant.
The direction is one of the various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) decided that will remain in effect from Jan. 20 to Jan. 31, said the press release, adding that a review will be held on Jan 27 to evaluate the situation at that time.
The NCOC took the decision after having detailed review of the country’s current corona situation along with the subsequent NPIs. The forum differentiated the new NPIs depending on the districts with Covid-19 positivity rate of up to 10 percent or more.
Cities with a positivity rate of more than 10pc:
The data of past 24 hours, issued by NCOC, showing cities with a positivity rate of more than 10pc includes seven cities:
- Karachi (40.13pc)
- Muzaffarabad (21.43pc)
- Lahore (15.15pc)
- Hyderabad (13.98pc)
- Islamabad (11.80pc)
- Peshawar (10.68pc)
- Rawalpindi (10.26pc)
NPIs to be implemented:
NPIs to be implemented are for fully vaccinated individuals, depending on the positivity rate of respective city. The interventions are given below:
Gatherings:
- Indoor gatherings with 300 individuals while outdoor up to 500 for districts with positivity up to 10pc positivity rate.
- Indoor gatherings banned, outdoor up to 300 for districts with positivity rate more than 10pc (with effect from Jan 24)
Weddings:
- Indoor weddings allowed up to 300 individuals, outdoor up to 500 for districts with positivity rate up to 10pc.
- Indoor weddings banned, outdoor up to 300 for districts with positivity rate more than 10pc (with effect from Jan 24 and will remain effective till February 15)
Dining:
- Indoor and outdoor dining both allowed for districts with positivity rate up to 10pc.
- Indoor dining banned (with effect from Jan 24), outdoor allowed for districts with positivity rate more than 10pc.
Education sector:
- Education activities will continue for those under and over 12 in districts with positivity rate up to 10pc.
- Education activities will continue with staggered attendance at 50pc capacity for those under 12 and 100pc attendance for those over 12 in districts with positivity rate more than 10pc.
- Those over 12 will need to be fully vaccinated in both situations.
- Vaccination will be mandatory (at least one dose) for those over 12 from Feb 1.
- Aggressive sentinel testing to be carried out for targeted closures in institutes with high disease prevalence.
- Federating units in consultation with health authorities will decide limits for closure of educational institutions
Gyms, cinemas, shrines, amusement parks:
- Indoor activities allowed for districts with positivity rate up to 10pc.
- Indoor activities allowed at 50pc capacity for districts with positivity rate more than 10pc
Sports:
- All sports activities allowed for districts with positivity rate up to 10pc.
- Ban on contact sports (karate, boxing, martial arts, rugby, water polo, wrestling and kabaddi) for districts with positivity rate more than 10pc