Latest coronavirus restrictions
“Only outdoor marriages allowed with upper limit of 1,000 persons,” says NCOC notification
monitoring desk
Islamabad
Indoor weddings have been banned in Pakistan in the latest coronavirus restrictions imposed by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC).
According to a notification issued on Friday, major cities with “high positivity and higher disease spread potential” have been asked to enforce the ban.
“Only outdoor marriages allowed with upper limit of 1,000 persons,” read the NCOC notification.
The rule pertains to Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzzafarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar, Quetta, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, and Abbottabad.
The decision will go into effect from November 20, 2020.
Furthermore, beginning tomorrow (November 7), the NCOC has directed the implementation of a “Gilgit-Baltistan model” whereby face masks must be made compulsory in the aforementioned cities.
In GB, failure to do so results in a penalty of Rs100 and three masks issued on the spot. Authorities have been advised to issue similar penalties in these locations.
Additionally, public and private offices have been told to implement a 50% “work from home” policy. In areas identified as hotspots, relatively broader smart lockdowns have also been recommended.
Existing wedding hall restrictions
Last month, NCOC said that it has observed wedding halls and indoor restaurants to be “high contributors” to the spread of the contagious disease. Following the observation, on October 9, the body issued new guidelines for wedding halls, saying that it is officially restricting the number of guests and limiting functions till 10pm.
For indoor events, a maximum of 300 guests has been allowed and for outdoor events, a maximum of 500 guests, with the gathering to only last 2 hours.
