Indoor Dining Allowed in Islamabad As COVID-19 Restrictions Ease

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) lifts up the ban on indoor dining, weddings, and gatherings in Islamabad. The COVID-19 restrictions ease in Islamabad as the rate of coronavirus infections decreases. The concerned authorities have announced to relax COVID-19 measures from 16th February 2022 as the positivity ratio remains under 10%. The order shall remain in force till 21st February 2022.

It was last month that NCOC had imposed restrictions on indoor dining as the fifth wave of coronavirus surged in Pakistan. The non-pharmaceutical interventions were implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. Even now when the restrictions are easing up, coronavirus continues to pose a serious and imminent threat to public health. Therefore, the concerned authorities have provided all mandatory safety measures for the prevention and control of this disease.

COVID-19 Statistics

According to the latest NCOC data, Pakistan witnessed a significant drop in the daily COVID-19 death count. The COVID-19 positivity ratio dropped to 4.97% after the detection of 2465 new infections, with 49,553 diagnostic tests conducted during the last 24 hours.

Non Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs)

According to the new rules, indoor and outdoor dining shall be allowed for fully vaccinated individuals and under strict COVID-19 SOPs. Moreover, indoor weddings shall be allowed for fully vaccinated individuals with a maximum limit of 300 guests. Outdoor weddings shall allow 500 fully vaccinated individuals, and that too under the strict implementation of COVID-19 SOPs.

In addition, NPIs will allow market/business activities to operate without time restriction under COVID-19 SOPs provided by the government. New rules will allow workplaces and the education sector to function with 100 percent on-site attendance instead of 50 percent, public transport services to operate at an enhanced 70-percent occupancy, as well as interprovincial transport to run on all days. Shrines, cinemas, sports, gyms, amusement parks will be opened for fully vaccinated individuals. If people fail to follow these protocols, they will be subjected to fines and arrests.

Even though most of the restrictions have eased up and bans lifted up, coronavirus still continues to put people’s lives at risk. So in order to remain safe from coronavirus, people should get themselves vaccinated. They should also wear masks in indoor public spaces and follow other safety precautions in Pakistan.