---
title: "Pakistan orders masks on domestic flights as Covid-19 numbers rise"
description: "KARACHI, Pakistan, June 27 (Reuters) - Pakistan’s aviation regulator has made masks mandatory on domestic flights given a gradual rise in the number of Covid-19 cases across the country, it said a statement."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "COVID-19"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-27-pakistan-orders-masks-on-domestic-flights-as-covid-19-numbers-rise/"
published: "2022-06-27T12:40:48"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 186
---

# Pakistan orders masks on domestic flights as Covid-19 numbers rise

> KARACHI, Pakistan, June 27 (Reuters) - Pakistan’s aviation regulator has made masks mandatory on domestic flights given a gradual rise in the number of Covid-19 cases across the country, it said a statement.

By Reuters · Published 27 June 2022, 14:40 SAST

## Content

The order comes a day after Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, reported that its Covid-19 positivity ratio, or the rate of positive cases out of all tests conducted, rose to 21% compared with a national rate of 2.8%.

"With immediate effect, mask wearing will be mandatory onboard domestic flights,” the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) said in the statement late on Sunday.

Pakistan has had very few Covid-19 cases over recent months and had done away with almost all precautions.

But over the past 24 hours, the national Covid-19 positivity ratio had risen to 2.85% with 382 positive cases and two deaths, according to data released on Monday by the National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH).

A month ago, the positivity ratio was 0.54% with 79 positive cases and no deaths. According to the NIH, 85% of eligible Pakistanis have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Pakistan disbanded the National Command and Operations Center, which was overseeing the Covid-19 response, on March 31 as infections fell to the lowest since the outbreak began in 2020.

By Syed Raza Hassan

(Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan; Editing by Robert Birsel)