Islamabad: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) of Pakistan recommended the country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ban inbound flights from May 5 to May 20 for curbing the fast-spreading third wave of COVID-19, an NCOC statement said.
The NCOC approved holidays for the forthcoming Eid festival from May 8-16, and banned all tourism activities during the holidays, besides urging people to stay home during the festival.
The forum also banned inter-provincial, intercity, and intra-city public transport, whereas private vehicles with 50 percent capacity have been allowed to travel.
The forum allowed the import of 6,000 metric tonnes of oxygen and 5,000 oxygen cylinders to meet the needs of the healthcare system in the country.
The NCOC also allowed the import of 20 cryogenic tanks and decided to shut down the scrap industry to divert its oxygen supply to the healthcare sector.
Earlier, NCOC Chairman Asad Umar said that COVID-19 designated hospitals are using over 90 percent of the oxygen being produced in the country.
The country reported 5,480 new cases and 150 fatalities because of the disease in the last 24 hours, the NCOC said, adding that a total of 815,711 people have been tested positive of the disease in the country out of which 17,680 died and 708,193 recovered.
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