Pakistan plans to reduce the number of inbound international flights to 20% to curb rising COVID-19 cases, the official body overseeing the country's pandemic response said on Saturday.
"In view of prevailing global and regional disease trends, Pakistan has decided to reduce inbound international travel from 5 May to 20th May," said the National Command Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees the government's pandemic response, on Twitter.
[embed]https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1388360010699350016?s=08[/embed]
The NCOC added that the decision would be reviewed on May 18. However, it was not immediately clear which routes and air carriers would be affected.
Pakistan has recorded deaths in recent days from the coronavirus, and stricter restrictions on movement and gathering in public are planned to be in place for the upcoming Eid holiday.
Officials are concerned about the country's health care system, already under strain, fearing it could reach breaking point if more contagious variants of the virus begin to spread, like what has happened in India.
Authorities reported on Saturday 4,696 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours and 146 deaths from the disease.
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