Six marriage halls and 103 restaurants have been sealed in Karachi for failing to comply with health guidelines and COVID-19 prevalence, Pakistan's National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Friday.

In a statement, the body said that all provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan occupied Kashmir and the Islamabad Capital Territory have been instructed to ensure the implementation of health guidelines and protocols for public health and safety due to the pandemic, reports Dawn news.

Authorities have also been urged to crackdown on violations "particularly in restaurants and marriage halls as these two places are emerging as epicentres of the disease", it added.

The development comes after a recent surge in the number of confirmed cases in the Sindh provincial capital over the last week.

On Thursday, the Sindh government extended a 'mini smart lockdown' to more neighbourhoods in Karachi as the number of cases continued to increase, said the Dawn news report.

Two localities of the city's district South were identified as ‘fresh hotspots' and placed under a ‘mini smart lockdown' for two weeks.

Reacting to the NCOC's announcement on Friday, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar tweeted: "Indoor restaurants and marriage halls are emerging as high contributors to Covid spread. NCOC has directed all provinces and federating units to crack down on standard operating procedure (SOP) violations in these places."

As of Friday, Pakistan has reported a total of 313,167 coronavirus cases, with 6,497 deaths.
(IANS)