Govt warns of tougher restrictions if Covid-19 SOPs violation continues

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Wednesday warned of imposing tougher restrictions if violations of coronavirus standard operating procedure (SOPs) continues amid the second Covid-19 wave, ARY News reported.

Speaking to the media after a meeting of the NCOC, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar warned Covid-19 cases will go up if health guidelines are not adhered to, piling pressure on hospitals.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan will preside over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), to be attended by the chief ministers of all the provinces, to take stock of the present coronavirus situation.

Pakistan successfully overcame the first wave of the pandemic and the country can overcome the second wave by adhering to the Covid SOPs, said Umar, adding that National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has witnessed 60 deaths per day on average and a 4 percent increase in corona patients during the last two months.

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The federal minister regretted that people are not following coronavirus SOPs as they did during the first wave. He said the PTI government will soon announce a relief package for the sectors closed in the second wave of the pandemic.

He once again appealed to the masses to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the spread of the second of COVID-19.

Karachi, Hyderabad record highest Covid-19 positivity ratio

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Wednesday the countrywide positivity ratio of Covid-19 cases was recorded at 7.78 per cent in the past 24 hours.

Karachi recorded the highest positivity ratio at 21.80pc for a second day in row, followed by Hyderabad 19.3pc, Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Mirpur 13.16pc, Rawalpindi 13.03pc, Peshawar 13.2pc, Abbottabad 11.82pc, Islamabad 6.28pc, Muzaffarabad 5.45pc, Quetta 4.15pc, Swat 4.23pc, Faisalabad 3.15pc, and Multan 2.1pc.

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Sindh recorded the highest Covid-19 positivity ratio which was 13.01pc, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 10.6pc, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 9.8pc, Balochistan 6.05, and Gilgit Baltistan 3.07pc.

2,498 of the total Covid-19 patients under treatment across the country are said to be in critical condition.