As COVID-19 cases drop significantly, authorities in Pakistan have allowed public transport to resume today along with other measures to ease restrictions in the country, Dawn reported. 

The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC)- the body that handles the COVID-19 crisis in the country- chaired a meeting and reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country. 

“All inter-provincial, inter-city, and intra-city public transport to resume from 16th May instead of previously given date of 17th May,” the NCOC said in a statement. However,  it asked transporters to operate with 50 percent passenger occupancy. 

The country’s railway has been asked to maintain its current 70 percent occupancy rate. All markets and shops will remain open till 8 pm and normal working hours for offices will resume from May 17, with 50pc work-from-home condition.

The country reported the lowest case, 1531 on Saturday since 8 March while it touched highest, around 6000, a few weeks ago following which the government had taken measures to curb the spread. 
  
However, Dawn quoted a source from the country health ministry, telling only around 30,000 tests were conducted against the earlier 48,000. Despite the reduced number of tests, the positivity rate remained 5 percent, which the official said was tolerable. 

(SAM)