KARACHI: Sindh government on Thursday decided to ease the lockdown gradually following the improvement in the COVID-19 situation across the province.
Addressing traders at the Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said the provincial task force had hinted at curbing restrictions in its meeting today, adding that the coronavirus situation in Sindh is better and in the next couple of days, businesses will be allowed to open till 8 pm.
He said that the provincial government had to impose restrictions on the markets however, “now we are moving towards opening things.” He said the lockdown and restrictions on businesses caused problems for the traders. It was an unpopular decision, and the PM was also against the lockdown initially, but this time he also supported it, he added.
It was also a fact that restrictions coupled with strictness had resulted in the downward trend of Covid-19 cases, the provincial minister said. Ghani assured that representatives of the business community, particularly those from the KCCI, would be invited to upcoming meetings of the provincial task force.
Earlier today, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while chairing a meeting of the provincial task force on coronavirus, directed the provincial finance department not to issue the salaries for the month of July to the employees who don’t get vaccinated.
The meeting reviewed the coronavirus situation in the province. The meeting was informed that 55 out of 26,812 people coming to Karachi from abroad were tested positive for coronavirus.
“On May 29, four passengers were diagnosed with the Indian variant. They came in contact with 14 other people, all of them are being tested,” the meeting was apprised. The provincial task force on corona was further told that more than 1.5 million people had been vaccinated in Sindh till now.
The Eastern District has reported the most corona-positive cases. The Eastern District reported 20 deaths, 21% new cases of coronavirus from May 27 to June 2nd. Around 392 people succumbed to the deadly virus in Sindh last month.
