The Sindh government on Friday allowed the traders to open the grocery shops from 8am to 5pm as it was also decided that the business activities would be carried out from Monday to Thursday for six hours [9am to 3pm].

These decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah held to formulate the SOPs [standard operation procedures] in connection with business activities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

It was decided that the cooked food home delivery could be made available from 5pm to 10pm but the service won’t be allowed for Sehri.

The Home Department will issue a notification mentioning the SOPs for the detailed business activities.

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However, there would be a lockdown after 5pm, the meeting decided while also mentioning that the Ehtram-e-Ramazan Ordinance, 1981 is to be fully implemented.

The relaxation for the trading activities came despite the fact that the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Thursday called for a strict lockdown and warned the next three to four weeks were very important and one should avoid making decisions which might prove to be regrettable in future.

The PMA president, Dr Ashraf Nizami, expressed his fears, saying that the actual number of coronavirus cases in the country might be in hundreds of thousands, as he raised questions over the testing rate and the reported patients.

The number of infected people is not in thousands, it is much higher than that, he maintained, adding that they felt afraid while quoting the real figures.

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