Meeters, greeters barred from entering airports amid second Covid wave

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Monday banned the entry of visitors to all 42 airports across the country to stem the second wave of the coronavirus.

According to an advisory issued by CAA, drivers will be allowed to drop passengers at the airports’ drop lines and those coming to pick travellers up will be required to wait in their vehicles until flyers’ arrival.

“As per the instruction of Government of Pakistan, in order to curb the spread of Covid-19, meters and greeters are not allowed at the airport,” it read.

Moreover, the CAA has also made it mandatory for people to wear masks on the premises of the airports.

It said these measures are aimed at addressing the coronavirus pandemic.

CAA officials made an appeal to the citizens not to visit the airports unnecessarily and warned that strict action would be taken as well as fines would be imposed on those violating the guidelines.

The initiative was taken on the same day when Pakistan recorded 1,123 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours — the highest in over three months.

As per the updated statistics on the government's official Covid portal, 12 people also succumbed to the virus during the day, taking the death toll to 6,835.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had recently stressed for strict implementation of precautionary measures to ward off the second wave of novel coronavirus pandemic in the country.

In a meeting of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the federal minister said that the use of face masks is mandatory at public places, adding that enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in educational institutions and banquet halls will be strictly monitored.