ISLAMABAD: With daily cases of Covid-19 having crossed the 1,700 mark after a gap of three-and-a-half months, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday suggested an early and extended winter vacations to prevent the spread of the deadly virus and ensure safety and health of students.

It also recommended banning all public gatherings, including political, cultural and religious ones, of more than 500 people.

The NCOC reduced the number of participants of marriage functions by 50 per cent and enhanced restrictions in high-risk areas due to a surge in Covid-19 cases amid second wave of the pandemic. The forum suggested only outdoor dining at restaurants till 10pm and immediate closure of takeaways, cinemas, theatres and shrines.

A meeting of the NCOC, presided over by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, reviewed the epidemic curve data and disease prevalence in the country, including the education sector.

Recommends early, extended school winter vacations, enhances restrictions in high-risk areas

It was told that the disease had increased threefold since the NCOC had recommended a ban on large public gatherings and outdoor activities on Oct 12 and Nov 3 to the National Coordination Committee (NCC) for a final decision. However, a consensus by all stakeholders is awaited.

“The forum was briefed that there is an increasing positivity ratio in educational institutions and there is a need to check this trend. The forum decided that on Nov 16, the federal minister for education would chair a special meeting at NCOC with provincial education ministers on board to assess and review the [Covid-19] positivity prevailing in educational institutions,” a statement issued by the NCOC said.

“After consultative discussions the recommendations would be shared with the provinces for consequent decision and enforcement. Taking into account the rising positivity ratio, the forum suggested early and extended winter vacations to reduce impact of disease spread and ensure safety and health of students,” it stated.

While further amending the guidelines on marriages, it was decided that only outdoor marriages with upper limit of 500 people will be allowed from Nov 20.

It is worth mentioning that earlier it was decided that the upper limit of participants would be 1,000.

The NCOC suggested to the NCC to increase restrictions on high-risk sectors, particularly large public gatherings, and called for early approval of the measures after reaching a consensus with the stakeholders.

The NCOC appreciated SOPs compliance in mosques for the last many months, but noted a decline in compliance at present and appealed to all stakeholders to further follow the guidelines rather enhance amid second wave of the pandemic.

The meeting suggested a number of measures to curb the virus and their approval by the national leadership across the country. The measures include a ban on all public gatherings of more than 500 people, including political, cultural, religious, entertainment and civil society; early and extended winter vacations after input from federal and provincial education ministers; no outdoor dining at restaurants after 10pm; immediate closure of takeaways, cinemas, theatres and shrines; and early closing of markets.

Meanwhile, the NCOC said 1,708 people tested positive for Covid-19 during the last 24 hours. Earlier, over 1,700 cases were reported on July 18.

Total active Covid-19 cases across the country reached 21,098 on Wednesday and 197 ventilators, out of 1,855 allocated for Covid-19 patients, were in use. There was no patient on vent in Azad Kashmir and Balochistan on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2020