A meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar at the National Command and Control Centre on Tuesday finalised the proposals vis-à-vis easing the coronavirus lockdown and re-opening the business centres.

A meeting of the National Coordination Committee chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday (May 6) will review these proposals and take a final decision on them. In case of approval of these proposals, they will be implemented from May 21.

At Tuesday’s meeting, a proposal was given to lift restrictions on the inter-provincial movement of public transport. It was decided that public transport would be allowed to operate only if transporters would follow the standard operating procedures for protection against coronavirus.

There was another proposal, which called for more facilities for people working in the construction sector. A decision was taken to make OPDs of some hospitals in Islamabad operational. There was a proposal that timings of business centres should be from 9am to 5pm and then 8pm to 10pm. It was decided that the government would not show any flexibility vis-à-vis enforcement of SOPs in Ramazan.

At the meeting, the Rural Support Programme was directed to help the Islamabad administration in containing coronavirus in the federal capital. The Islamabad Administration was directed to include volunteers of the Rural Support Programme in their teams to take part in public welfare activities amid the coronavirus pandemic. These volunteers will ensure implementation of SOPs for business centres and mosques, trace coronavirus patients, take part in coronavirus awareness campaigns and find deserving people in the city.

Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister Hammad Azhar and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Asim Slaeem Bajwa also attended the meeting.