(Karachi) The Lahore district administration has sealed 19 wedding halls in the city for violating COVID-19 SOPs, media reported on Monday.

Deputy Commissioner Mudassir Riaz said that 59 markets, shopping malls and grocery stores were sealed as people failed to follow social distancing SOPs and for not wearing face masks.

Besides, he added that 28 restaurants, hotels and cafes were also shutdown after a police raid while fines were also imposed on shops that remained opened after 10pm deadline. “There’s a zero tolerance policy against residents violating guidelines given by the government,” the DC stated.

Earlier, the National Command and Control Centre stated that positivity ratio of fresh Covid-19 cases increased to 7.94 percent as the second wave of coronavirus hit the country.

The NCOC stated that five major cities of the country, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Hyderabad and Peshawar were contributing 70 percent of coronavirus spread. The forum urged the public to follow SOPs and guidelines to curb spread of the disease.

On November 30, Planning Minister Asad Umar said that the NCOC has finalized its recommendations for procurement of coronavirus vaccine.

The Government of Pakistan allocated an initial funds of $150 million to buy a COVID-19 vaccine directly from international manufacturers by the second quarter of 2021. It hopes to start immunizing its 220 million population soon.