ISLAMABAD: National Command Operation Center (NCOC) on Thursday announced six holidays for all public and private employees on Eidul Fitr.
The important decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Population Welfare and head of the NCOC.
The NCOC also ordered airlines to sharply cut the number of inbound flights between May 5 and 20 out of concern that travellers from overseas could deteriorate the coronavirus situation.
The measure comes as the government struggles to arrest a deadly third peak of the pandemic and considers imposing stricter lockdowns to lower the death rate — the number of infections resulting in fatalities — that hit the highest point since the start of the pandemic in February last year to reach 2.2 percent.
Officials and experts have said health care facilities are at risk of being overwhelmed. The country has very limited health resources, with ventilators and oxygen in short supply. More than 70 percent of ventilators and oxygenated beds were occupied in hospitals in many major cities until earlier this week.
