Pakistan reported 131 deaths related to the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death tally to 19,987.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 4,207 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
Punjab remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic both in terms of cases as well as deaths followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.
So far 331,102 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Punjab, 303,323 in Sindh, 128,033 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24,223 in Balochistan, 79,789 in Islamabad, 18,469 in Azad Kashmir, and 5,452 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
As per NCOC statistics, 9,640 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 4,854 in Sindh, 3,855 in KP, 270 in Balochistan, 740 in Islamabad, 521 in Azad Kashmir, and 107 in GB.
Meanwhile, NCOC decided to reopen outdoor restaurants and tourism spots, while education institutes in segregated districts will resume their activities from Monday.
It was decided in a meeting with Planning Minister Asad Umar in the chair in Islamabad on Wednesday. The educational institutions in districts with less than a five percent positivity ratio of Covid cases can resume educational activities.
Restaurants
Restaurants will remain open with outdoor dining till 2359 hours whereas takeaways will be allowed 24/7. It was decided that the tourism sector will be opened with strict Covid protocols.
Marriage ceremonies
The forum allowed outdoor marriage ceremonies with a maximum of 150 guests from next month after reviewing the situation on the 27th of this month.
Education sector
It was decided that the education sector, other than those opened from Monday, will be opened after the review meeting.
NCOC decided that shrines, cinemas, indoor dining, indoor gyms, amusement parks, contact sports, festivals, interprovincial public transport on Saturday and Sunday with effect from Saturday will continue to remain closed till further review.
Border policy
It decided that the current inbound and Land Border policy will continue till further orders.
The meeting permitted the reopening of Gadani and Misri Shah Industry from tomorrow.
All Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary School Certificate examinations will be held after the 20th of the next month. However, the conduct of all professional and non-professional examinations will take place on a case-to-case basis.
