The National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) has decided to close all shrines, cinemas and theatres as the country experiences a surge in coronavirus cases.

A meeting of NCOC was held in Islamabad today with Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar in the chair.

It has been decided in the meeting to close all shrines, theatres, and cinemas to curb the second wave of Covid-19.

NCOC officials have also suggested tightening restrictions in high-risk areas citing a 3% increase in positivity ratio.

All large public gatherings should also be banned with maximum of 500 people allowed in outdoor gatherings of any sort.

Regarding marriage halls, it has been recommended to limit the gathering to two hours.

“The halls would be allowed to accommodate guests only half of total capacity. Food will be served in lunch boxes and the number of guests will be mentioned outside the hall,” NCOC officials recommended.

In view of rising cases in educational institutions, a meeting of NCOC will be held on November 16 to review the situation.

“Final decision will be taken after involving all stakeholders. The recommendations will then be forwarded to all provincial education ministers for implementations,” NCOC officials said.

The final decision over all recommendations will be taken in the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting.

Pakistan has reported 21 coronavirus deaths and 1,708 new positive cases in one day.

According to the National Command and Control Center (NCOC), around 1,708 cases of coronavirus were reported while 21 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 7,021.

The total number of confirmed cases reached 348,184.