ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday rejected the closure of businesses, industries, and other economic activities despite rising Omicron cases of Covid-19 variant in the country, ARY News reported.
During the fifth live session of “Aap Ka Wazir Azam Aap Key Sath’ programme, the prime minister said that Omicron cases are increasing rapidly in the country but the government has no plan to impose lockdown.
“Government is not considering closing the businesses as it will cast a negative impact on our poor people,” he said while answering a question about lockdown amid the fifth Covid-19 wave.
Imran Khan urged the people to strictly observe the wearing of masks at public places to prevent the spread of Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Read More: WHO SEES MORE EVIDENCE THAT OMICRON CAUSES MILDER SYMPTOMS
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has registered another 7,586 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the second-highest single-day rise since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 58,334 samples were tested, out of which 7,586 turned out to be positive at the positivity rate of 13 per cent.
The deaths have also recorded a surge as 20 more patients of COVID-19 succumbed to the viral disease in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 29,097. The number of critical patients rose to 1,083.
Pakistan has conducted 24,532,952 tests so far to diagnose the deadly virus and 1,268,245 people have regained their health including 647 in the past 24 hours.
Read more: Scientists scrutinise characteristics of new Omicron sub-variant
With the emergence of fresh cases, the countrywide tally of cases has jumped to 1,367,605.
