Sindh announces revised COVID-19 curbs starting today

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Tuesday announced revised COVID-19 restrictions for the province as the country battles the fifth wave of the pandemic.

The new restrictions are set to take effect from today (February 22), and will last till “revised earlier if the periodical review of the COVID-19 situation warrants”.

Under the revised curbs, the following will apply:

Gatherings

• Indoor gatherings of all types, including weddings, with a cap of 500 fully-vaccinated guests will be allowed.
• Outdoor gatherings allowed with strict enforcement of safety protocols.

Dining

• Ban on indoor dining has been lifted. And, outdoor dining for fully-vaccinated citizens and takeaway service will be allowed.

Business timings

• Businesses will continue without time restrictions

Office routine

• Offices will be allowed to operate at 100% capacity of fully vaccinated workers with normal working hours.

Education sector

• Institutes for children under 12 years of age will open with stringent COVID-19 protocols.
• Institutes for children above 12 years of age will open with stringent COVID-19 protocols (fully vaccinated).

Public transport

• Public buses will be allowed to operate with 80% of their seating capacity. Wearing masks will be mandatory throughout the journey. However, a complete ban on serving meals/snacks during the journey will remain imposed till February 28.

Gyms

• All gyms will be allowed to remain open for fully-vaccinated individuals only.

Shrines

• Open for fully-vaccinated individuals only.

Cinemas

• All cinemas will be allowed to remain open for fully-vaccinated individuals only.

Amusement Parks

• Open for fully-vaccinated individuals only.

Sports

• All types of sports are allowed for vaccinated individuals.

Domestic air/land travel meals

• A complete ban on serving meals/snacks during the in-flight or land journeys for domestic travel will remain imposed till February 28.

Railways

• Railways will operate with a 100% occupancy level for vaccinated individuals only.
• A complete ban on serving meals/snacks during the journey will remain imposed till February 28.

Mask wearing

• Compliance with compulsory mask-wearing while incorporating innovative measures for enforcement. 
• Strict adherence to SOPs in mosques and other places of worship be ensured by the respective district administration.

Extended lockdowns

• Smart lockdown with stringent enforcement protocols based on disease clusters.

Earlier, today the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) removed three cities from the list of cities/districts where it earlier decided to keep restrictions in place, as COVID-19 positivity rates decline countrywide.

The forum, last week, had issued a list of six cities/districts where the COVID-19 positivity was higher than 10%, saying that the already enforced restrictions will remain in place there.

The cities/districts included:

• Gilgit
• Muzaffarabad
• Mardan
• Karachi
• Hyderabad
• Peshawar

However, after witnessing a declining coronavirus trend in half of these cities, the NCOC removed Karachi, Hyderabad and Peshawar from the list.