Sindh tightens Covid restrictions ahead of Eid

Amid rising coronavirus cases in the province and Eidul Fitr just round the corner the Sindh government announced on Thursday a new set of Covid-19 restrictions.

The decision to tighten pandemic-related restrictions was taken during a meeting of the coronavirus task force, presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

During the meeting, it was decided that restaurants will be allowed to offer take-away services till Maghrib prayers, after which only the home delivery service will be available. This will be in effect starting tomorrow until Sunday.

The provincial government upheld its earlier restriction on commercial activities, stating that shopping centres are to open early in the morning and close by 6pm, the CM said.

In addition, Murad maintained that Hawkesbay and sea view areas will remain closed during Eid days.

The pharmacies are exempt from all conditions, the meeting notified.

Read Sindh sees surge in Covid infections

Furthermore, the task force also ordered all Covid inoculation centres to remain open throughout the day.

The provincial chief minister maintained that, “More restrictions will be imposed on Sunday and will last till Eid holidays.”

On Wednesday, the province reported over 1,000 coronavirus infections and four fatalities.

According to a statement issued from the Chief Minister's House, 1,038 fresh infections emerged when 16,023 samples were tested for the contagion, indicating a positivity rate of 6.4 per cent.

The provincial Covid tally and death toll rose to 288,680 and 4,691, respectively, with the recent figures, said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

Another 331 persons also recovered from the infection overnight bringing the total number of recoveries thus far to 266,719, he added.

Read Limited centres hamper Sindh’s inoculation pace

As many as 17,270 persons across Sindh are under treatment for the contagion, he said. Of these, 16,627 are in home isolation and 643 are admitted at different hospitals, where the condition of 616 patients is stated to be critical, including at least 55 shifted to ventilators.

Of the 1,038 new infections, 526 emerged in Karachi. The highest number of cases in the metropolis was detected in East district, which reported 275 Covid cases.

The South district reported 108 new cases, Central reported 84, Malir 27, West 20 and Korangi district reported 12 fresh infections.

Meanwhile, 181 new cases were detected in Hyderabad, 70 in Sujawal, 38 in Shaheed Benazirabad, 36 in Tando Muhammad Khan, 26 in Tando Allahyar, 21 in Badin, 20 in Kambar Shahdadkot, 17 in Larkana, 16 in Sukkur, 14 in Ghotki, 13 in Umerkot, 12 in Mirpurkhas, four in Jacobabad, three in Sanghar, as many in Khairpur, two each in Dadu and Shikarpur and one each in Jamshoro, Matiari, Naushero Feroze and Kashmore.