Punjab govt extends lockdown till May 31

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to extend the lockdown across the province till May 31 to contain the spread of novel COVID-19.

According to a notification issued by the provincial home department, all the mega shopping malls and educational institutes will remain closed until the end of this month.

Punjab has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan with the provincial tally at 2,336 while the death tally has reached 19 in the province.

The notification further said barbershops, salons and beauty parlors have been allowed to open under the SOPs issued by the Punjab government. Grocery shops to remain open between 9:00 am to 5:00 pm across the province, read the notification.

Along with these, electric, steel and aluminum shops have also been exempted from lockdown. Earlier, the Punjab government had decided to impose a three-day complete lockdown in a week.

Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan had announced relaxation in lockdown for four days of a week (Monday to Thursday) in which all shops and markets will be allowed to remain open.

However, a complete lockdown will be imposed from Friday to Sunday. He had said that notification of new orders will be issued shortly. “Mega shopping centers and plazas will not benefit from the relaxation in lockdown and will remain closed,” he had added.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin while briefing the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) meeting about the smart lockdown mechanism in Punjab said that the province was all set to issue detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in that regard.

She said all-out efforts would be made to enforce the smart lockdown across the province, she added. The health minister said that Punjab had augmented its testing capacity and would run extensive awareness drive on SOPs to communicate the guidelines to the people.