Unvaccinated citizens warned of curbs
THOSE PLAYING TRUANT FACE BAN ON AIR TRAVEL, ENTRY TO MARRIAGE HALLS AND RESTAURANTS
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the main body monitoring the coronavirus situation in the country, has warned all those who have not yet been fully vaccinated that they might face a number of restrictions like a ban on domestic or international air travel, besides access to marriage halls, shopping malls or restaurants from today.
Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had also warned last week that after September 30, all unvaccinated domestic and international travellers would face restrictions.
Earlier, the NCOC had announced that all airline inbound and outbound passengers would need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by yesterday.
A complete two-dose vaccination had been made compulsory for air travellers by yesterday, according to the NCOC.
Work restrictions
Besides, restaurants, shopping malls and marriage halls would also be out of bounds for the unvaccinated people, the NCOC further warned.
Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar, who is also chairman of the NCOC, had made it clear that those who had not been fully vaccinated against coronavirus would not be allowed to use public transport from October 15.
Likewise, schoolteachers and staff will not be allowed to work after October 15 if they don’t receive the vaccine, the minister had announced.
The NCOC has decided to relax restrictions in eight cities — Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Peshawar, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit and Skardu — after they achieved the target of vaccinating 40 per cent of their population.
According to Asad Umar, the NCOC had observed the situation in different cities, and as per the NCOC’s earlier announcement the restrictions would have to remain in effect till yesterday, it was decided not to extend them further.
Since vaccines are the only solution against the pandemic and a number of countries have lifted curbs after inoculating a large number of their population, we decided that from October 1, new restrictions will be based on vaccination ratio in cities, the minister said.
“The NCOC had given targets to 24 cities to vaccinate 40 per cent of their population by the end of September and there are eight cities that have either achieved the targets or reached close, therefore we have decided to relax restrictions there,” he said.
The country continues to see a decline in Covid-19 cases as less than 2,000 infections were recorded for the fifth consecutive day yesterday.
According to the latest statistics released by the NCOC, as many as 52,635 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours across the country, of which 1,742 came back positive.
The NCOC had given targets to 24 cities to vaccinate 40 per cent of their population by the end of September and there are eight cities that have either achieved the targets or reached close, therefore we have decided to relax restrictions there.”
Recoveries
The country’s Covid-19 positivity rate remained at 3.30 per cent yesterday while 2,377 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours.
According to the NCOC, after 39 casualties in the last twentyfour hours the country’s toll had climbed to 27,729 while there were 47,832 active cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Asad Umar | Federal Minister for Planning