Daily Times

Pakistan Railways on Tuesday decided to suspend passengers train operation across the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The train services will remain completely suspended throughout the country from March 24 to March 31, said a notification issued by the Ministry of Railways. The passengers who have advance booking on suspended trains will be accommodated in other trains of their choice on priority once the service resumes. In case of not availing the ticket, they will get full refund after resumption of train operations, the notification added.

Following the announcement, thousands of people gathered at the Karachi Cantonment railway station to travel to their desired locations from the city as train operations remained the last travelling option amid Sindh-wide lockdown.

The province of Punjab on Tuesday witnessed first day of 14-day lockdown in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. All the government and private offices, shopping malls and recreational places were closed while ban was also imposed on pillion riding.

Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah on Tuesday announced an ‘effective lockdown’ across Karachi whereby all shops, except for medical stores, will remain closed from 8:00pm to 8:00am. During this time period, all shops, including grocers and kiryana stores, will remain closed, he said. However, he clarified that hospitals are to continue operating on a 24-hour basis. He further said that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has directed the banking industry to keep their key branches open.

The closure of the schools across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been extended to April 5, a notification issued Tuesday by the provincial education department read. All schools in the KP province will remain closed till April 5, as opposed to the previous date of March 31, 2020, the notification said.

On March 13, the KP had announced a 15-day closure of educational institutes throughout the province as Pakistan’s coronavirus tally at that time shot to 21. At that time, the provincial leadership had also directed that all political and public gatherings were banned, while Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had also postponed his rally in Swat.

At least 141 Pakistanis repatriated from Doha and Dubai on Tuesday morning were screened by the health authorities at the Islamabad International Airport. “None of the passengers came with visible symptoms of coronavirus infection. Screening test RT PCR was done for all passengers and sent to the laboratory,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.

According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, the government arranged two special flights for the expatriated Pakistanis who were stuck up at different airports of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates due to partial suspension of international flights by Pakistan. ‘Fly Dubai flight brought 101 stranded Pakistanis from Abu Dhabi and Dubai while some forty passengers arrived by Emirates flight,” according to the Aviation Division.

The Islamabad Capital Territory administration said all the returnees after screening had been advised to stay in home quarantine until their test results become clear. The administration said it has arranged quarantine facilities at two private hotels in blue area.

The rapid response team along with officials of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, National Institution of Health and the Health Ministry received the returning Pakistanis on their arrival. The National Disaster Management Authority coordinated the entire response, the local administration said.