Will shut down restaurants, wedding halls if SOPs not followed, warns Asad Umar

Karachi: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar warned on Friday that if owners of wedding halls and restaurants fail to ensure the implementation of coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), then the government will shut down their businesses.

In a tweet, the head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that field reports have shown complete disregard for the requirement of vaccination for those attending indoor weddings and going to indoor restaurants and gyms.

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"If the owners of these facilities do not show responsibility and ensure compliance, there will be no choice but to shut them down," Umar warned.

The minister continued that he had warned two weeks ago that the fourth wave of the Covid-19 could emerge in Pakistan. Now, he added, there are early signs of the fourth wave.

"Poor sop compliance, coupled with spread of variants of concern, Indian variant in particular, are the main cause," Umar tweeted.

Last month, the NCOC allowed the resumption of indoor dining and indoor weddings for vaccinated individuals. "Indoor and outdoor dining is allowed till 11:59 pm. However, indoor dining at 50pc occupancy is allowed for vaccinated individuals only," a press release by the NCOC said.

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While indoor weddings were allowed for up to 200 vaccinated individuals, the NCOC also ordered the management of wedding halls to ensure staff vaccinations as well as check vaccine certificates of attendees.

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases continue to increase with the country reporting 1,737 new infections during the last 24 hours. The coronavirus positivity rate has also increased to 3.65%.

Meanwhile, 25 deaths were reported from Covid-19, taking the death toll to 22,520. 774 people also recovered in 24 hours across the country. So far, 911,383 people have recovered from the novel virus in Pakistan.