Islamabad: The National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) has issued guidelines for Eid Al Adha being celebrated later this month.
According to the advisory, citizens have been asked to select slaughtering sites away from the populated areas and avoid crowding at the place of slaughtering.
For Eid prayers, it has been advised that ablution should be performed at home and separate entrance and exit points should be made to prevent bottlenecks outside or inside the place of prayer (Eidgah).
The guidelines also include thermal screening at entry points of Eidgahs, social distancing and facemasks for all worshippers. Neither carpets nor prayer mats would be laid down in Eidgah for prayers and people are advised to bring their own mats.
Punjab eases restrictions
With COVID-19 cases declining significantly, the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department of Punjab has relaxed restrictions from July 1 to July 31.
According to a notification issued by Secretary Health Department of the province, Sara Aslam, all public and private organizations are allowed to work with 100 per cent staff.
• Business hours have been extended till 10pm.
• Cinemas have been asked to only allow people who have been vaccinated.
• Bakeries and grocery stores can stay open on Sundays as well.
• Indoor dining is allowed at 50% occupancy.
• A maximum of 200 guests are allowed at indoor weddings and 400 at outdoor ceremonies.
Vaccination card must for entry to cinemas
The notification allows cinemas to operate from July 1. They are allowed to remain open until 01:00 am. However, anyone visiting the cinemas should be vaccinated, as per the guideline issued by the NCOC.
The NCOC also expressed concern over the rising positivity of COVID-19 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and called for effective implementation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the northern region of the country. It said federating units had the discretion of planning summer holidays in their respective educational institutions.
40 deaths, 1,037 cases in 24 hours
Pakistan on Thursday reported 40 deaths and 1,037 confirmed cases of COVID-19 after conducting 46,145 tests in the last 24 hours.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), the virus positivity rate on July 1 was recorded at 2.2 per cent while the number of active cases had increased a little from 31,606 a day earlier to 31,767 on Thursday. Pakistan’s tally of cases has reached 958,408 while the death toll stood at 22,321 after the latest additions.
Meanwhile, vaccination of citizens is underway as a total 390,171 doses were administered during the last 24 hours, the NCOC data reveals.
