Sindh govt extends Covid restrictions till May 16

KARACHI:

The Sindh Home Department issued on Friday a notification for further extension in the coronavirus restrictions. The two safe days for keeping the business activities suspended in Sindh have been rescheduled.

According to the notification, the business activities will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday across the province. However, the restrictions will not apply to compulsory service organisations, including clinics, pharmacies, milk shops, bakeries, law enforcement agencies, media outlets and newspaper vendors.

The notification states that the business activities will be allowed from dawn to 6pm. The cinemas, theatres, amusement parks and shrines will remain completely closed. Interprovincial public transport will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday.

However, due to Ramazan, the traders and the provincial government have agreed to shut markets on Friday. It further states that only the open air dine-in service will be allowed at the restaurants from Iftar time till midnight. Indoor and outdoor wedding ceremonies will be restricted in wedding halls.

According to the notification, taraweeh prayer will be held in open spaces where implementation of Standard Operating Procedure will be mandatory. Only 50% of staff in government and private offices will be called under rotation policy. Wearing masks will be mandatory in all workplaces and offices.

The restrictions have been extended till May 16 while the orders of public transport closure for two days a week are applicable till April 26. Earlier, business centers were allowed to open from 6am to 8pm.

Read: Sindh extends Covid restrictions, changes business closure days
Read more: Eight more die of Covid-19 in Sindh

Covid cases, deaths

Sindh saw 561 more coronavirus cases against 11,623 tests on Friday, when three pandemic-related deaths were reported in the province, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in a statement issued on the day.

The CM said after the detection of new cases and three more deaths, the Covid-19 tally in Sindh had risen to 271,523, and the contagion death toll to 4,544.

He said of the fresh cases, 278 were reported from Karachi, 79 from Hyderabad, 17 from Shikarpur, 14 from Shaheed Benazirabad, 13 from Kashmore-Kandhkot and as many from Sukkur, 12 from Ghotki, 11 from Badin, Jamshoro, Matiari and Dadu each, 10 from Thatta, nine from Sanghar, eight from Tando Muhammad Khan and as many from Naushero Feroze, seven from Tando Allahyar, six from Umerkot, five from Jacobabad and Sujawal each and four from Larkana and Mirpurkhas each.

Moreover, the CM stated, 259,792 Covid-19 recoveries had been reported in Sindh so far.

As of now, he said, 7,187 coronavirus patients were under treatment, with 6,794 in home isolation, 10 in isolation centres and 383 in hospitals. Of them, 356 were critically ill, including 39 on ventilator, according to the CM.