Pakistan’s government has announced it has reopened the western border with Afghanistan after it was kept closed for 72 days due to concerns that traffic would result in more coronavirus cases.

A notification issued by the Ministry of the Interior on Saturday said both the Chaman and Torkham borders will remain open to resume bilateral trade between the countries for six days a week.

On Saturdays, the border will remain closed for trade but it will allow pedestrian movement. Vehicles and persons engaging in cross-border business were directed to follow the SOPs to avoid COVID-19 contracting.

Given growing cases of the virus, Pakistan is slowly moving towards the resumption of businesses. This has partly restored domestic flight operations, allowing provinces to restore public transport as well as reopen major shopping centers.

So far nearly 40,000 cases of coronavirus and 830 fatalities have been reported by the government. Doctors advise that if people don’t stay indoors, the infections will rise exponentially.