Complete details of lockdown in Karachi

Aneela Siddiqui

31st Jul, 2021. 04:27 pm
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The Sindh government declared on Friday that the province will be under lockdown from tomorrow till August 8 in order to control the COVID-19 spread, which was spinning out of control. Here are the complete details of lockdown in Karachi for those wishing to know.

The meeting decided that government offices would be closed starting next week and that individuals who had not been vaccinated would not be paid after August 31.

It was also decided that police would have the authority to inspect the vaccination cards of anyone walking along the street.

Political, social, cultural, and sports activities have been banned completely. As a result, cinemas and temples will be entirely shut down. Amusement rides will be closed.

All market places, shopping malls, government offices, sports and training centers, gyms, schools, and examination centers will remain closed, with the exception of necessary services.

Essential services that will remain open:

Health and related services like hospitals, medical stores, laboratories, vaccination services, manufacturers.
Food and related industry/manufacturers. Restaurants only remain open for delivery. No dine-in or takeaway will be allowed.
Standalone grocery stores, fish, meat, vegetable, fruit vendors, bakery shops, tandoors, and dairy shops— to remain closed from 6 pm to 6 am.
Essential municipal services.

Electricity and SSGC.
Water supply(including supply by tankers where essential) and sewerage.
Port operations, PNSC, and custom services.
PTA/PTCL/NTC service staff.
Cellular companies service staff for repair and maintenance of towers/cables.
Banks(with limited staff for service).

Stock exchange, CDC, and related services (with limited staff).
Petrol pumps.
Welfare organizations Chippa, Edhi, Seylani, JDCand others providing essential services.
Media persons authorized by the information department, newspaper hawkers.
Any other class may be deemed essential and so declared by the government.

SOPs for Export Oriented Business:

Industrial establishments, businesses, offices/premises exclusively dealing with export may remain functional provided the owner/manager/officer in charge issues specific and express order in this regard and has valid export orders.
Any person who is owner, manager, in-charge, or person responsible for any such premises where general public visits or workers/staff works/perform duties has to ensure the following measures:

The entire staff/labor including management and security personnel shall be fully vaccinated and must have in their possession vaccination certificates for inspection by law enforcement personnel.
The workers and staff are properly briefed on the COVID-19 and spread of disease and the required precautions against the disease as well as symptoms of the disease and required steps of self-isolation and seeking proper medical advice.

Display at prominent places the instructions and awareness posters in Urdu, Sindhi, and English (as per language commonly read/understood) for workers and staff and at the entrance for the visitors/ customers. Where necessary pictorial versions of instructions and awareness posters may be used for labor class.
That the practice of handshake and greetings by physical contact in any manner is forbidden among workers/staff/public. Instead, greetings by way of waving of hands or bowing or paying respect by folding both hands or placing the right hand on the left side of the chest or any other alternate method as per social and cultural norms should be advised.
Thermal guns are to be provided and used at the entrance to screen the entrants.
Persons with high temperature or flu-like symptoms and cough should not be allowed.
Entry & Exit points should be properly managed with sufficient staff.
Sufficient availability of hand sanitizers or ideally hand washing facility to be ensured at the entrance/ exit gates as well as in the office/workplace for all the staff/workers to use.

Such industrial units/business concerns to maintain trained medical staff/doctor for screening etc.
All such workplaces are required to have a register maintained of ALL the persons (Management, staff, workers whether permanent or temporarily hired, etc.)

General directions:

No person is allowed to come out at any public place, wherever permitted, without any valid reason.

Travel in groups without keeping u distance of over three feet between the individuals is strictly prohibited.
No more than two persons should travel in a car. Third-person can be allowed only in the case where a sick person being carried requires such an attendant.
Persons coming out in public places for some necessity must compulsorily wear a mask.
Adequate arrangements for hand disinfection by use of hand sanitizers (that meet the minimum standard of containing at least 70% alcohol) and ideally, where possible, frequent handwashing with soap and water thoroughly washing hands for at least 20 seconds.
To use tissue paper and properly dispose of it, and sneeze/cough in elbow instead of openly in air.
All those suffering from flu, flu-like symptoms, fever, dry cough, and body aches must not visit any public place especially any closed premises and must seek medical advice. To carry and use hand sanitizers (or preferable handwashing with soap) after touching any open public place/item. Special care is to be taken that while using the ATM Machine / Credit /Debit Card mobile machines customer must wipe the area to be touched with sanitizer before using it and washing /disinfecting hands with sanitizer after such activity.

Essential Measures

Mandatory Wearing of Face Mask at Public places.
Carrying of CNIC at all places.
Keeping Distance between individuals at any place and appropriate measures to ensure it.

Frequent hand sanitization or preferably washing hands with soap frequently
Avoiding crowded and closed spaces.
Avoiding as far as possible to come out in public unnecessarily.
Proper ventilation of offices/workplaces.
Special precautions by the elderly and those with chronic disease.

Proper measures for disinfecting frequently used items/places.

Distancing Measures:

Ensure that only minimal essential staff for the permissible activities/operation is engaged. Further, as far as is possible, engage in an online and work from the home mode of operation.

No employee or worker over the age of 55 is called for work at workplaces.
Modify work stations or stagger hours to increase space between staffs visitors and customers/clients. Also determine and display room/hall capacity for persons, keeping in view the over three feet distance required to be kept between individuals.
Reduce congestion by implementing staggered/phased arrival, departure, and break times.

Floor markings and dedicated staff to ensure proper queuing of customers/ workers/laborers are required so as to ensure proper queuing with the distance between the persons. If necessary seating for the handicapped may be provided for use by them while waiting like queues at banks/shops.

Workplace Cleanliness:

The workers/staff shall wear masks and hand gloves which are to be ensured in sufficient quantity by the Owner / CEO / Management.
The items that are touched/ used by multiple users must be wiped clean with proper disinfectant after every use. This includes door handles, copy machines/printers, break rooms, remotes, light switches, telephones, keyboards, and machinery/equipment operated by the workers/laborers/staff/customer after every use. Dedicated staff should be deputed for this purpose.
The floor must on be cleaned a regular basis with disinfectant before and after every shift and premises fumigated as required.

Proper ventilation of workplace and all places for workers/ staf^Z customers is to be ensured.
All the waste from any process is to be probably disposed of and in no case thrown out in open.

Other Areas Workplaces:

Ensure that during lunch or other breaks enough space is provided to workers/staff along with the floor markings, who should sit at a distance of at least three feet apart, or if the space is small the break be allowed to workers/staff in a phased manner.
The area must be properly ventilated.
That Prayer area to have no mats/rugs and only limited persons pray at one time to ensure adequate spacing between them and that the floor is wiped clean before and after every prayer.
Toilets are to be kept clean and disinfected after use. A dedicated worker is employed to wipe out/ disinfect after every use.

Canteen/Cooking/Baking places as applicable, to adopt same measures of distancing, including floor markings for those serving as well as those being served and use of disposable gloves, masks, and headcover by the cook & serving persons. The utensils will be cleaned after every use. Raw material to be touched & prepared wearing gloves all the time as well as while serving.
All the factory, mill owners, etc. having residence of employees/workers within premises shall ensure similar measures for awareness and ensuring adherence by workers as well as provision of such facilities for cleanliness/disinfection at workers residing places in the facility/premises.
In large workplaces, especially with residential arrangements/areas within such places, a separate place must be earmarked for isolation for symptomatic/ suspected individuals for further screening/testing and/or transfer to a health facility for further management/treatment of such individual(s).

Responsibility:

It shall be the responsibility of the owner/manager to ensure compliance with the above directions, as well as other applicable directions issued by Government from time to time.
It shall be ensured that all the staff? persons at the premises/ site are properly briefed on the Covid-19 spread, preventive steps/ precautions against the spread of the virus, signs/symptoms, etc., and that all the precautionary measures are followed by all present within such premises/site/workplace.
Necessary instructions/protocols may be prepared in the light of these SOPs for ensuring compliance by all concerned.
The owner/management shall ensure that if there are any signs of symptoms in any of the labor/employee of COVID-19, il shall be incumbent upon the owner/management to get that labor/employee screened from the hospital and follow relevant SOPs for suspected cases.

If the virus spreads amongst the worker/labor or community then the owner/management shall accordingly take all necessary measures including suspension of activities till clearance is given by Health Authorities. The screening/Testing regime has been notified separately by concerned health authorities who may be contacted for the needful.
Owner, / CEO shall be responsible for treatment/welfare of worker/laborers/persons contracting the disease and any further action required for control of such spread.

Random tests for Covid-19 may be conducted by health authorities from time to time. In case, of any positive case and required further testing for other contacts of any positive case, the expenses may be required to be borne by the owner/CEO/Management.

Transportation of Human Resource:

Whichever business or workplace is allowed to work shall engage/ hire/ contract a vehicle for transporting their employees to and back from the workplace or the employees/staff/workers can travel individually on motor-cycle or private cars as instructed under General Instructions above.
The designated vehicle shall be intimated at the office of the DC, SSP, and Labour Department, with a detailed description of the vehicle i.e. Make, reg. no., model, capacity, and Color. Moreover, the details like Names and CNIC number of Driver and the Passengers is to be logged in register to be maintained for the purpose.
Only such vehicles for workers shall be allowed to ply on the roads that have been approved by the DC(s) concerned in coordination with the SSP(s) who shall maintain such a list.
Such transport vehicle shall not carry Passengers more than l/3rd of its maximum capacity for the purposes of ensuring social distancing.

It shall also be ensured that all the passengers while boarding and disembarking a vehicle, shall maintain a well-spaced queue maintaining a distance of over 3 feet /1 meter all the time.
It shall be ensured that the passengers sitting in the vehicle are at least 1 meter apart from one another.
The said vehicle shall be designated with a banner posted/displayed at a visible place describing the name of the company/office/ industry with its location.
The vehicle shall carry the banner with specific instructions related to preventive measures for COVID-19 infection.
It shall be the responsibility of the organization to ensure that all persons inside the vehicle wear protective face masks all the time while traveling.
While traveling to and from the factory, the driver shall ensure that doors and windows are opened and the vehicle is properly ventilated.

The vehicle shall be disinfected by using recommended disinfectant spray and washed clean at least once daily.

Goods Transportation into a workplace / Industrial Unit etc:

Raw materials dissembled parts of machinery and any other material required to be possessed by an industrial unit for a finished product shall be only allowed to enter the industrial unit or premises after the vehicle is completely sanitized and disinfected at the entry point.
The temperature of the drivers, conductors, loaders, and other staff of the vehicle transporting such materials shall be monitored at entry points along with other indicators of COVID-19 that are flu, cough, and muscular pain, etc.
No person(s) associated with such vehicles having any or all symptoms of COVID-19 shall be allowed to enter the industrial unit or premises.
AU material/goods received shall be properly sanitized and disinfected before its entry to an industrial unit or premises is granted.
The seating arrangement of such vehicle amongst the individuals occupying it shall be such that 3 feet distance is maintained.
Individuals occupying such vehicles shall wash hands with soap before entry into an industrial unit or premises and subsequently, their hands shall be sanitized. Viz Proper headgear, gloves, gowns, and masks shall be worn by the individuals occupying such vehicles. No person(s) without proper gear shall be allowed entry to industrial units or premises.

Complete details of lockdown in Karachi

Aneela Siddiqui

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