PM Shehbaz urges citizens to follow SOPs amid Covid-19 surge

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the people of Pakistan to strictly follow COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) as a surge was witnessed in coronavirus cases, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Taking to Twitter, the prime minister said that the frontline health workers and doctors had rendered numerous sacrifices to keep the countrymen safe from the disease.

ملک میں کرونا کیسز کی پھر سے بڑھتی ہوئی تعداد کے پیش نظر میری پوری قوم سے اپیل ہے کہ کرونا سے متعلقہ ہدایات اور SOPs پر عمل کریں۔ ہمارے فرنٹ لائن ورکرز اور ڈاکٹرز نے ہمیں محفوظ رکھنے کے لیے بہت سی قربانیاں دی ہیں۔ہمیں کرونا کے خلاف ان حاصل کی جانے والی کامیابیوں کو ضائع نہیں کرنا

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 29, 2022

Therefore, PM Shehbaz Sharif urged the people not to squander the success achieved against the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the premier also chaired a meeting to discuss the COVID situation.

During the meeting, the prime minister directed the chief secretaries of the provinces to ensure implementation of the SOPs at crowded places, besides enforcing full vaccination, booster doses, use of masks and sanitizers.

He also called for use of masks and sanitizers at the cattle markets set up ahead of Eidul Azha, weddings and other private gatherings. The prime minister said the adherence to the SOPs was inevitable for the safety of one’s own as well as the dear ones.

He said the performance of all institutions particularly the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) had been laudable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read More: COVID-19 positivity ratio rises to 3.5pc in Pakistan

The participants were told that the new variant of the Omicron led to a recent surge in coronavirus cases in the country. On June 28, over 3% cases were reported in the country on June 28, though the ratio of hospitalization in this variant was lesser than that of the previous waves.

The health authorities told the meeting that 86% of above 12 years population had been fully vaccinated while 93 percent got at least single shot. Currently, the country’s capacity was to vaccinate around 200,000 people per day.

It was told that whole of Sindh population had been fully vaccinated while the vaccination process was underway in Punjab and other provinces.