No outdoor dining in restaurants for unvaccinated citizens in Sindh

Provincial govt makes vaccination certificate mandatory for travel via train from October

KARACHI:

In a bid to stem the spread of the fourth wave of coronavirus pandemic in the province, the government of Sindh has made it mandatory to carry Covid-19 vaccination certificates for people visiting the restaurants for outdoor dining in the province, an official handout said.

"Carrying vaccination cards by the costumers while dining out shall be mandatory for the purpose of inspection by the LEAs (law enforcement agencies)," a notification issued by the provincial home department stated.

The provincial government has also made vaccination certificates mandatory for travel via train from October 1.

Read more: NCOC bans train travel for unvaccinated citizens from Oct 1

The development comes after National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) announced that only vaccinated individuals will be allowed to travel by train.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by NCOC chief Asad Umar. During the meeting, the high-level forum expressed concern over the alarming increase in Covid-19 infections across Pakistan, particularly Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

Pakistan has administered at least 37,424,706 doses of Covid vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 8.6% of the country’s population, according to Reuters tally.

During the last week reported, Pakistan averaged about 1,024,697 doses administered each day. "At that rate, it will take a further 43 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population," it predicted.

Read more: Sindh relaxes Covid-19 restrictions on NCOC’s advice

On Sunday, the Sindh government, on the advice of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), relaxed the Covid-19 restrictions put in place to stem the spread of.

A notification issued by the provincial home department said that markets and business activities can continue till 8pm instead of 6pm.

It said that the ban on indoor dining would continue however, outdoor dining will be allowed under strict Covid-19 protocol till 10pm. "Take away and home delivery are allowed 24/7," it added.