• 1,165 Covid-19 cases, 56 deaths reported in single day
• Health ministry issues guidelines for PSL spectators

ISLAMABAD: With only 52,768 healthcare workers (HCWs) having been vaccinated across the country over the past two weeks, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday asked all frontline HCWs to register themselves for Covid-19 vaccination in their respective areas and centres.

The government data shows that 32,860 HCWs have been vaccinated in Sindh, 15,494 in Punjab, 1,639 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,013 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 651 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 859 in Islamabad and 252 in Balochistan.

Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, said the frontline healthcare workers were being given priority and all efforts would be made for their safety and protection so that they could work with the same commitment to save precious lives.

According to the NCOC data, as many as 1,165 Covid-19 cases and 56 deaths were reported across the country over the last 24 hours, while 247 patients were on ventilators. Total active cases of coronavirus stood at 25,008 on Wednesday, while 2,113 patients were admitted to different hospitals across the country.

Guidelines for PSL

The Ministry of National Health Services has issued guidelines for spectators of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches, starting from Feb 20, to minimise the chances of spread of coronavirus.

A draft of the guidelines, avail­­able with Dawn, states that the NCOC has accepted the Pakistan Cricket Board’s request to allow 20 per cent crowd for the PSL round matches.

“Proper face covering/mask wearing is mandatory at all times by everyone both inside and outside areas. Social distance of one metre should be between two persons so two seats will be left vacant between two individuals or each group, and a group must only contain one household. A row betw­een the successive rows shall be left vacant to ensure social distancing.

“One way route that is less than 1.6-metre in width will be used for one-way flow at any one time. Ten minutes before the end of the match, the one-way system will be reversed so that spectators can leave. Spectators having symptoms of Covid-19 will not be allowed to watch match,” the guidelines state.

Similarly, the guidelines say, the spectators will not leave the seat unnecessarily; they will ensure social distancing while going to toilets or waiting outside the toilets.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2021