Restaurants allowed to remain open on weekends in Sindh

KARACHI: Restaurants and cafeterias have been allowed to remain open during the weekend across Sindh amid the coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

The provincial home ministry issued an amended order allowing restaurants and hotels to continue operating their businesses on Saturday and Sunday.

The restaurants have to strictly implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs) devised by the government. They will be allowed to operate takeaway services till 7:00 PM while the delivery services could continue until 10:00 PM.

Earlier this month, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) had decided to keep the businesses closed two days a week and keep them open from Monday to Friday.

The federal and provincial governments had agreed on a recommended list for reopening the businesses and trade activities amid the coronavirus crisis as the number of cases keeping rising across the country.

The committee approved the decision to continue the opening of shops and markets on Friday. However, schools, colleges, wedding halls and restaurants will remain closed till further orders.

Pakistan has been named among the worst affected countries by the pandemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has suggested imposing a lockdown after every two weeks and increasing testing capacity up to 50,000 in a day.

The government has issued a stark warning that the coronavirus could peak by end of June and the total number of cases could rise to one million.