Coronavirus SOPs: Punjab mulls alternative options to NCOC's indoor wedding ban

LAHORE/ GUJRANWALA: The Punjab government is mulling alternative options to the National Command and Operations Centre's (NCOC) decision banning indoor wedding festivities to contain the rapidly increasing coronavirus spread across the country.

According to Geo News, the provincial government has formed a team under the leadership of health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid and tasked it to provide recommendations in the next 24 hours.

The recommendations will be presented before the NCOC in the next meeting.

In its last notification, NCOC banned indoor weddings starting November 20 and limited outdoor functions to up to 1,000 guests.

The guidelines issued by the NCOC last week apply to Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Quetta, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Bahawalpur and Abbottabad.

Read more: NCOC directs public, private offices to implement 50% 'work-from-home' policy

Marriage hall owners protest 

Meanwhile, the marriage hall owners and workers staged a protest against the new rules in Gujranwala. Addressing a joint press conference, Marriage Hall Association and Punjab Caterers Association demanded the government retract decision on weddings issued under the new COVID-19 SOPs.

“We will keep them open,” said Khalid Idrees, indicating that the SOPs would not be followed and warning the government of protests if it does not reverse its decision by November 17.