SC takes back decision to keep markets open on weekends.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday took back its decision to reopen markets on the weekend as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise across the country.

The decision was announced by the apex court during hearing of the suo motu case regarding measures taken against the outbreak, a private TV channel reported. "Coronavirus does not differentiate between provinces. The federal government needs to take a lead on this and needs to come up with laws regarding this," the court said.

Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed questioned if all departments in the country are functioning, why can the parliament not. "Laws are needed on a national level to deal with the coronavirus pandemic," he remarked, adding that laws needed to be implemented on a national level. He further said that nothing will come out of press conferences but instead laws are needed. "China immediately came up with laws to stem the spread of the virus," he noted, adding that saving lives is the basic need of the hour. "Where is the law which says that Covid-19 poses a threat to life," he questioned.

The bench noted that although the provinces have their respective legislations for coronavirus, nothing is being done on the national level. The court was further informed by the NDMA's legal team that the testing capacity has been increased to 30,000 tests per day. Upon this, the chief...