KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has given the permission to open all markets except shopping malls across the province from today (Monday).

A delegation of Karachi Traders called on Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in Karachi and the matters to operate business activities were discussed.

The chief minister said that all markets would open from 06:00 AM to 05:00 PM under the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs).

He stressed that traders would be responsible for the implementation of SOPs and if the Coronavirus cases escalated, strict decision would be taken.

Also Read: Lahore, Sindh traders announce opening markets from May 10

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on May 10, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had expressed the confidence that the decision to ease lockdown in phased manner would be implemented with the national spirit of unity.

He had said the decision was taken in consultation with all the federating units. He had said big policy level decisions had been taken and now it was time for their implementation.

The minister for planning had expressed satisfaction that the people had acted with responsibility but they now needed to more strictly follow the precautionary measures after the easing of restrictions to avoid the spread of the virus. He had said the decision of easing restrictions was taken to provide livelihoods to the people.

Asad Umar had said the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) had been working since 31st of March without any break to take the timely decisions and actions to address the situation arising out of Coronavirus.

Asad Umar had said the testing capacity was considerably being enhanced and 13500 tests were carried out on Saturday (May 9, 2020). He had said there were now seventy labs fully equipped to carry out Corona Virus tests. “Currently there are eighty-five people on the ventilators and 165 on oxygen”.

The minister for planning said a system was being developed in order to ensure efficient response in case the Coronavirus cases spike in the coming days. He had expressed satisfaction that the trajectory of Corona Virus cases was not as serious as has been witnessed in some other countries. He however said, “We are preparing for the worst situation. A portal will soon be made operational to update record of hospitals and patients.”

The Minister had said that smart lockdown is being enforced only in hotspot areas. Currently, the smart lockdown is in place in 359 areas of Punjab and 177 areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Asad Umar had said we are also engaging with the rural support programs not only to create awareness amongst the rural population about the contagion but also to provide relief to the deserving families.