Covid-19: Pakistan bans inflight meal from tomorrow to fight Omicron

CAA was asked to ensure inflight mask wearing and also implement Covid related SOPs at all airports

By APP

Published: Sun 16 Jan 2022, 8:32 AM

Last updated: Sun 16 Jan 2022, 8:40 AM

Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday banned serving the inflight meal in line with the directives of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to stem the spread of Omicron, a new variant of coronavirus, from January 17.

“Amid rising Omicron cases across the country, the NCOC bans serving meals/snacks onboard domestic flights and public transport effective from January 17,” the authority said on its Twitter handle.

The National Command and Operation Centre in a meeting on Saturday discussed the epidemic curve chart data and disease prevalence in wake of rising disease trends in the country, especially in the urban centres.

The forum decided to extensively engage with provinces specially with Sindh government for necessary measures to tackle rising disease.

It reviewed the existing NPIs and called on provincial health and education ministers session on January 17, 22 to suggest the new set of NPIs focusing on education sector, public gatherings, marriage ceremonies, indoor / outdoor dining and transport sector.

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Meanwhile, CAA was asked to ensure inflight mask wearing and also implement Covid related SOPs at all airports.

The forum asked the federating units to take strict measures against violators of existing SOPs specially mask wearing and to ensure enforcement of obligatory vaccination regime. It also asked for strict enforcement of existing NPIs specially in transport, education and sectors with high social gatherings like restaurants and wedding halls.

Moreover, federating units were asked to carryout immediate surveys of healthcare facilities including oxygenated beds, oxygen stocks and reserves. The NCOC directed all quarters to fast-track vaccination drive and ramp up efforts to achieve vaccination targets.