Centre urges 'stay home' on Christmas as virus cases spike.

ISLAMABAD -- The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for mitigation of spread of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 during occasion of Christmas.

According to NCOC, these SOPs were necessary as Christmas events could amplify the transmission of the virus and potentially disrupt the country's response capacity as COVID-19 is transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces, and the risk of transmission appears to be proportional to the closeness.

As per these SOPs, NCOC said with the COVID-19 pandemic in a full rage, the safest thing that could be done during this Christmas holiday was to stay home. There should be limited in-person contacts during holiday preparations and celebrations, it added.

It added in such events, prevention of importation of the virus from on household to other and other places like shopping malls, churches are an essential element in avoiding or minimising the occurrence of infection and of serious outbreaks in these settings and beyond.

Precautions were required by public especially Christian community to protect themselves and prevent transmission, it added.

87 daily deaths, 3,179 positive cases

Through these SOPs, general public have been asked to only undertake minimal necessary travel during Christmas holidays as Pakistan has already been struck by second wave while social visits during Christmas and general family get-togethers should be avoided.

Christmas shopping should only be restricted to minimal essentials and crowding in markets was not advisable. The traditional gift exchange was likely to increase transmission, so it should be avoided for this Christmas, it said.

Under these SOPs people have been asked that large scale home gatherings should be avoided amid Covid-19 second wave and encourage for outdoor Christmas celebration preferably day time event, strictly observing SOPs with assigned seating arrangements of 1-meter distance.

Every person should wear mask and for indoor gatherings, opening windows and doors could ensure proper ventilation and help lower the risk while indoor gatherings should be avoided as poor ventilation pose the greatest risk.

The NCOC said longer gatherings would pose a greater risk than shorter gatherings so events must be kept shorter and guest list should be kept smaller ensuring there was enough room to enable guests from different households to stay...