Federal govt announces six-day holiday for Eidul Fitr

Markets, public places and other non-essential businesses will remain closed during the holiday

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced a six-day holiday for the upcoming Eidul Fitr, starting May 22 (Friday) till May 27 (Wednesday).

The Ministry of Interior in a notification issued on Saturday said all markets, public places and other non-essential businesses will remain closed during the Eid holiday amid the coronavirus outbreak.

However, essential shops, medical services and other emergency services will continue to remain operational, said the official notification.

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has already predicted that Eidul Fitr, which marks the culmination of the holy month of Ramazan, is expected to fall on May 25 in the country.

However, a final decision in this regard will be taken during the meeting of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee which will be held on May 23.

This is the first major religious festival which the Muslims will celebrate across the world under the shadow of Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed over 3,00000 and infected an excess of 4.5 million while 1.66 million patients have recovered so far.

The Pakistan's tally of Covid-19 patients stands at 39,738 with at least 866 deaths while almost 10,880 coronavirus patients have recovered so far.