Daily Times

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will chair a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) in Islamabad on Thursday (today) to take a final decision on easing lockdown restrictions in the country.

The NCC is the apex coronavirus decision-making body headed by the prime minister and comprising top civil and military leaders including the provincial chief executives.

The NCC meeting would be attended by chief ministers of all the provinces where a consensus would be developed on easing coronavirus lockdown country-wide.

The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday, in a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, had proposed easing in lockdown restrictions after May 9.

The NCOC had also proposed the resumption of transportation services across the country.

It was also decided that the domestic flights should resume operations in the coming days. The body recommended reopening shops in rural areas from May 10, but decided that shopping malls, wedding halls and restaurants will remain closed.

Earlier in the day, Punjab, Balochistan, and Sindh, in an inter-provincial education ministers conference, had opposed reopening educational institutions after June 1.

In the meeting, chaired by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, the provinces stressed on keeping educational institutions closed. The meeting remained inconclusive and the matter was left for the NCC to decide.