Will be forced to place tighter restrictions, if SOPs not followed: Umar

ISLAMABAD: Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar tweeted on Thursday that the positivity ratio of Covid-19 cases is witnessing a sharp spike.

“Hospital daily admissions & people in critical care rising fast,” Umar, who heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Covid-19, wrote on his official Twitter handle.

Also Read: Pakistan records ‘highest daily’ Covid-19 vaccination rate

He warned that the government will be forced to place tighter restrictions on activities, if compliance of the standard operating procedure (SOPs) doesn’t improve. “Please be very very careful. The new strain spreads faster and is more deadly.”

Sharp spike in covid positivity. Hospital daily admissions & people in critical care rising fast. If sop compliance does not improve, we will be forced to place stronger restrictions on activities. Please be very very careful. The new strain spreads faster and is more deadly.

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) March 18, 2021

COVID-19 claimed 61 more lives and 3,495 fresh infections were reported across the country during the past 24 hours. The positivity ratio was recorded at 7.87 per cent, the NCOC said.

Also Read: Walk-in COVID vaccination of citizens over 70 years starts 

On Wednesday, Asad Umar tweeted that Pakistan recorded “the highest daily vaccination rate” on March 16 as more than 41,000 people were inoculated against the novel coronavirus on that day.