Head of the National Command and Operation Centre Asad Umar on Tuesday announced the reopening of schools in several districts nationwide from September 16.

Umar was addressing a press conference when he said schools would reopen in in five districts of Punjab and one district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They are Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujrat, Sargodha and Bannu districts. Here, schools will resume on-campus classes from September 16 but with 50% attendance.

He said the NCOC had earlier placed strict restrictions on 24 districts throughout the country and minus the above 6, they will remain in place until September 30.

Of the places they're opening up, he said they planned to still maintain restrictions.

"Buses can resume inter-city transport by accommodating 50% capacity of passengers," he added.

Outdoor dining in will now be allowed here past the earlier 10pm deadline to now midnight but indoor dining is still banned, he said.

Indoor gatherings, he said will remained banned but parks and amusement parks will remain open. However, they will only be accessible for people who are fully vaccinated.

While outdoor activities will be allowed for upto 400 person gatherings, indoor gatherings will continue to remain banned, he said.

He also used the opportunity to speak about the importance of getting vaccinated.

Earlier in the day, NCOC tweeted the vaccine statistics so far.

News of the schools reopening has been met with a muted response so far.

The NCOC on Monday tweeted a clarification surrounding rumors that schools would close, saying the public should only wait to hear from official channels regarding such matters.