Inter-provincial transport to remain suspended for two days a week

Ban to come into effect on April 10, to last till April 25; goods, freight, medical other emergency services exempted

ISLAMABAD:

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to ban inter-provincial transport for two days – Saturday and Sunday – a week with effect from April 10, it announced on Sunday.

The restriction will last till April 25, it further added.

"Goods, freight, medical and other emergency services will be exempted from the ban," read a statement issued by the NCOC on Sunday.

However, the country's nerve centre for Covid-19 response allowed the railways to continue to operate seven days a week with 70 per cent occupancy.

The ban will be reviewed on April 10, 2021 by the NCOC.

On Friday, the provincial taskforce on Covid-19 in Sindh decided to approach the NCOC, seeking a two-week ban on inter-provincial transport.

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This was decided during a meeting presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah - a day after he renewed the call for a ban on inter-city bus transport - to restrict people from travelling to the province and flatten the virus curve.

Addressing the meeting, the CM said that he was not in favour of a lockdown, but only wanted a ban on inter-provincial transport so as to break the cycle of the cases being reported by restricting the movement of people.

“This is the only way to contain [the spread] of variants that originated in the United Kingdom (UK),” he said, adding even if a ban was imposed, goods’ transport and activity at the seaport would continue as usual.

Last Wednesday, during a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by chief ministers of all the provinces, Murad had suggested imposing a ban on inter-city transport for the next two weeks in order to contain the third wave of coronavirus pandemic.