The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) has issued guidelines for public gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that it said were prepared with the input of provinces.

The guidelines will apply to all cultural events, political gatherings, religious gatherings, parties or other similar events but not to marriages or sports, for which separate SOPs have been prepared.

For indoor events, the NCOC has advised that participation be limited to 500 persons or 50 per cent of capacity, whichever is less; events' duration should not exceed three hours; all persons should be seated; and there should be a three-feet distance between seats.

For outdoor events, the NCOC says the density of participants should be controlled; organisers should ensure wearing of masks and social distancing; all persons should remain seated; events' duration should not exceed three hours; rallies or gatherings on roads and other "ill-defined places" be avoided; no gatherings to be held in cities where positivity ratio is consistently high (6-9pc or more).