Pakistan limits marriage hall timings, number of guests amid fears of second wave of coronavirus

Pakistan has put a limit on marriage hall timings and number of guests, amidst fears of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Wedding halls in Pakistan reopened last month as businesses emerged from spring lockdowns.

However, as businesses reopened, the country is witnessing an increase in the positivity rate, prompting the government to raise an alarm. Positivity rate is the percentage of positive results out of the total number of tests sampled.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday said marriage halls and restaurants are re-emerging as hotspots of coronavirus spread after they were reopened from lockdown. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday also warned that a rise in Covid-19 infections could be expected in winter.

In a notification issued on Friday, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) -- the nerve centre to synergise and articulate unified national effort against Covid-19 -- revised the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for marriage halls.

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Under the revised guidelines, 300 people would be allowed for indoor and 500 for outdoor events, which would last for two hours, wrapping up by 10 pm.

The NCOC said marriage halls found violating SOPs would be imposed a heavy fine and closed for a specified time.

Meanwhile, the nationwide coronavirus tally rose to 318,266 on Saturday after 671 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said.

Six more people died overnight, taking the Covid-19 death toll to 6,558, it said.

Sindh recorded the maximum number of 139,910 cases, followed by Punjab at 100,484, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at 38,273, Islamabad at 17,210, Balochistan at 15,498, Gilgit-Baltistan at 3,900 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir at 2,991.